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Elements oh Pedagogics 


1 / 


BY 


J. N. PATRICK, A. M. 

Author or “Lessons in English” and “Essentials of English” 


Man cannot propose a higher and holier object for his study than education 
and all tha t pertains to education. — Plato. 



/ 


SAINT LOUIS, MO. 





LBI02S 

,?zn 


Copyright, 1894 

BY 

J. N. Patrick 



PREFACE. 


The elementary principles of pedagogics are 
easily within the comprehension of any one other¬ 
wise qualified to teach the common school branches. 
With the unsolved problems of psychology the 
school teacher is not concerned. But to teach any 
subject properly requires some knowledge of the 
laws which govern the growth of mind. In this 
book special pains have been taken to apply the 
principles of pedagogics to the practical work of 
the school room. 

i ‘ Elements of Pedagogics ’ ’ is not a pretentious 
book. It is intended for those who have not already 
studied pedagogy, hence it aims to state concisely, 
clearly, and simply the well-established principles 
and facts of educational psychology and correct 
methods of instruction, yet no attempt has been 
made to make the subject light and easy, for the 
study of mental phenomena presupposes thoughtful 
habits of study in the reader, 
iii 



IV 


PREFACE. 


Into the foot notes are gathered quotations from 
Sully’s “Outlines of Psychology,’’ Ladd’s “ Psy¬ 
chology,” Dewey’s “ Psychology,” James’s “Psy¬ 
chology,” Hill’s “Psychology,” Van Norden’s 
“Psychic Factor,” and from Spencer, Rosenkranz, 
Compayre, Hughes, Fitch, Rooper, Sidgwick, 
Thring, Locke, Page, Brooks, and White. The 
inquiring teacher is respectfully referred to the 
completer works of the authors here named for more 
professional light upon his chosen work. 

For convenience of treatment the text is di¬ 
vided into two parts: Part First aims to present the 
elementary principles of educational psychology; 
part Second discusses the leading topics of practical 
pedagogics. In spirit and purpose this little book 
is strictly educational. 


St. Louis, January, 1894. 


J. N. P. 



CONTENTS 


Preface . 



PAGE. 

iii-iv 

Contents . 

• 

• 

v-vi 

PART FIRST. 

Educational Psychology .... 



. 7-96 

CHAPTER I. 

Sensation—Perception .... 



. 8-17 

CHAPTER II. 

Memory in Education. 



. 18-33 

CHAPTER III. 

Imagination in Education .... 



. 34-47 

CHAPTER IV. 

Association in Education .... 



. 48-57 

CHAPTER V. 

Attention in Education .... 

. 


. 58-79 

CHAPTER VI. 

Conception. 



. 80-87 

CHAPTER VII. 





J udgment—Reason 


88-96 





vi 


CONTENTS. 


PART SECOND. 

Practical Pedagogics. 97-224 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Habit in Education .98-113 

CHAPTER IX. 

Method in Education .114-125 

CHAPTER X. 

Method in Education (Concluded) .... 126-143 

CHAPTER XI. 

The Recitation .144-153 

CHAPTER XII. 

The Schooe .154-171 

CHAPTER XIII. 

The Teacher.172-183 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Morae Education . 184-201 

CHAPTER XV. 

The IdEAE IvIEE. 203-224 





PART FIRST. 


Educational Psychology. 



The lower animals are born with an almost complete adapta¬ 
tion for the performance of their life functions. The colt stands 
when only a few hours old. At the age of three, he can do al¬ 
most all he can ever do in his life-time. It is not so with a 
human infant. For years it is absolutely dependent on others 
for the continuance of its existence. No living creature is more 
ignorant, more defenseless, more entirely at the mercy of beings 
other than itself. Destined for the highest attainments of intel¬ 
ligence, the infant possesses the least of automatic adaptation to 
the conditions of life. Everything has to be learned from the 
beginning. Instinct is at the minimum, Intellect, undeveloped 
but potential, is at the maximum. Almost everything done by 
the child is done by conscious psychical reaction, not mechan¬ 
ically.— Hill's Psychology. 


CHAPTER I. 


SENSATION—PERCEPTION. 


INTRODUCTION: —The soul is the self— the 
life essence. It is that which knows, feels, and 
wills. It exists, and knows that it exists. The 
body is, but it does not know that it is. The 
body is a thing, the soul a spirit. The relation 
existing between the soul and the body is one 
of co-existence, not of identity. Matter and 
mind are essentially different. Matter is known 
by its quality, mind by its acts; matter is inert, 
mind self-active; matter is unconscious, mind 
self-conscious; matter occupies space, mind 
does not; matter is particular, mind universal. 
The body and the soul reciprocally condition each 
other. They work together involuntarily. The 
origin and nature of both matter and mind are 



10 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


beyond the limits of science. We can study the 
phenomena of the soul, but not its nature. 

I can exist apart from my body, for my body 
is not /. My body might be torn to pieces, but 
I should still be spiritually entire. The distinc¬ 
tion is self and not-self— Ego and non-Ego . 
The soul is a unit in all of its actions; that is, 
it does not act in sections.* As intellect , it 
knows; as sensibility, it feels; as will, it chooses 
and puts forth volitions. Feeling includes all 
pleasurable and painful conditions of the mind. 
Willing covers all active mental operations. 
However, knowing, feeling , and willing are 
not three different kinds of consciousness, but 
three different modes of the same conscious¬ 
ness. All three of the elemental powers of 
the soul are involved in every conscious act.f 

*In Psychology, Mind is considered as an Individual; that is, as an 
indivisible unit of Energy. As such it has many modes, clearly distinguish¬ 
able, but wholly inseparable from one another. 

From its very nature as an indivisible unit of Energy, Mind acts 
always as one. All its modes are involved in every act, one or an¬ 
other mode being predominant in each act.— Bryant's Psychology. 

tMental phenomena are known by different names. They are com¬ 
monly called states of mind, or states of consciousness. Since, how- 




SENSA TION—PER CEPTIQN. 


11 


Psychology is the science of the mind. It 
is a science, because it is based upon knowledge 
derived from experience. The art and science 
of teaching are based upon the laws of psy¬ 
chology. Sound methods of instruction can be 
acquired only through a knowledge of the prin¬ 
ciples upon which they are based. If we would 
know how to impart instruction, we should 
know how knowledge is acquired. A study of 
the elements of knowledge naturally precedes 
a formal study of the principles of pedagogics. 

The process of acquiring knowledge begins 
with consciousness of the self. Self-conscious¬ 
ness is the foundation of all other knowledge. 
It discriminates between being and non-being; 
between the self and the not-self; between the 
Ego and the non-Ego. The facts of psychology 

ever, they are phenomena in time, haying a certain duration and 
a succession of parts, they are just as often spoken of as mental pro¬ 
cesses or operations. It is important, further, to distinguish between 
a mental process, or operation, and its result, or product. Thus we 
distinguish between a process of perception and its result, a percept; 
a process of association and suggestion and its product, a recollec¬ 
tion; between an operation called reasoning and its result, rational 
conviction, and so forth.— Sully. 




12 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


are facts of the self; they are individual ex¬ 
periences. All other sciences deal with the 
not-self; hence the facts of all other sciences 
are the common property of all men. Since the 
facts of the soul are personal experiences, it fol¬ 
lows that a knowledge of its operations is best 
acquired by introspection—by a study of how 
the self acquires knowledge. The elements of 
knowledge are sensations and perceptions. 

Sensation. — “A sensation is a change 
in the state of the mind produced by an im¬ 
pression upon an organ of sense.” Sensation 
has a physical basis, but is a mental state.* 
The nerves connect the soul with the ma¬ 
terial world. It is through the senses that 
the soul acquires a knowledge of the outer 
world. Each sense has its own special mode of 

'* Sense-impressions are the alphabet by which we spell out the ob¬ 
jects presented to us. In order to grasp or apprehend these objects, 
these letters must be put together after the manner of words. Thus 
the apprehension of an apple by the eye involves the putting to¬ 
gether of various sensations of sight, touch, and taste. This is the 
mind’s own work, and is known as perception. And the result of 
this activity, i. e., the distinct apprehension of some object, is 
called a percept.— Sully. 





SENSATION—PERCEPTION. 


13 


receiving and conveying its sensations. All 
parts of the body supplied with nerves give rise 
to sensations. Without one or more of the five 
senses, there would be no mental life. A person 
born blind is deprived of the sensations and im¬ 
ages dependent upon the sense of sight; one born 
deaf is deprived of the sensations dependent 
upon the sense of hearing. The same statement 
may be made in regard to the other senses. Ar¬ 
ranged in the order of their importance, the 
special senses are sight, hearing, touch, taste, 
and smell. 

The senses supply the material for knowledge. 
That is, without the senses nothing would be 
.perceptible; and without the conscious self 
nothing would be perceived. The soul depends 
upon the body for its communication with the 
external world. It is through external excitants 
that the nervous organism receives the im¬ 
pressions that it transmits to the soul. There 
can be no sensation without a nervous sys¬ 
tem and a stimulation of that system. But 




14 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


a sensation is not knowledge. Knowledge is in¬ 
terpreted sensations. Merely to see, feel, hear, 
taste, and smell is not knowing. * A sensation is 
only one element of knowledge—the initial act of 
the soul in acquiring knowledge. 

Perception. —“Sense-perception is the souks 
knowledge of material objects.’’ A percept 
is a psychical image formed by the idealiza¬ 
tion of sensations. It is the image of an ob¬ 
ject or of a group of objects. But a percept 
is not knowledge; it is only another element 
of knowledge—the second stage in the prog¬ 
ress of acquiring knowledge. Knowledge is 
a fusion or an assimilation of percepts. The 
mere sight of an orange does not constitute 
knowledge of an orange. The percept given by 
the sense of sight must be fused with the per¬ 
cepts given by the sense of taste, the sense of 
smell, the sense of touch. Only by unifying these 

* We hear only what we know.— Goethe. 

We can see only what we have been trained to see.— Carlyle. 

The present impression produces only such an effect on the mind as 
the past history of the mind renders possible.— Rousseau. 




SENSA TION—PERCEPTION. 


15 


several sensations do we acquire knowledge of 
an orange. 

Sensation and Perception are mental states— 
stages in the development of knowledge. A little 
thinking will show that complete knowledge of 
an object cannot be obtained through a single 
sense-perception. Knowledge of a rose cannot 
be obtained through any one sense, but only by 
the fusion of several individual percepts. To 
the percept formed by the sense of sight must 
be added the percepts formed by the senses 
of touch, taste, and smell. Knowledge of an 
apple is obtained only by seeing it, feeling it, 
smelling it, and tasting it. Knowledge of an 
object is the synthesis of all its individual per¬ 
cepts. This fact should be thoroughly understood 
by teachers, that pupils may enjoy the pleas¬ 
ure which study gives when properly directed. 

Since the material for knowledge is acquired 
through the senses, it follows that the quality 
of the percept depends upon the quality of the 
sensations. The depth of the image depends 



16 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


upon the intensity of the sensation. * Attention, 
interest, and feeling on the part of the pupil ac¬ 
company all successful efforts to acquire knowl¬ 
edge. Pupils must be trained to see, to hear, to 
feel, to smell, and to taste, if they would acquire 
clear and lasting percepts. Listless habits of 
the mind and restless habits of the body tend to 
weaken the image; hence the teacher should in¬ 
sist upon an attentive mind and a quiet body 
during recitation. Tact and energy on the part 
of the teacher are as necessary as attention and 
interest on the part of the pupil. Teacher and 
pupil influence each other. 

As knowledge cannot be conveyed directly from 


'^Representation. —But a percept really becomes matured as such 
only through successive stages. An object must be seen many times 
before it is rightly seen. And repetition means retention. 

A percept is developed through repeated acts of perception into 
clearness and accuracy and adequacy. And for each of those re¬ 
peated acts of perception, through which are brought about the cor¬ 
rection and deepening cf a percept already partially formed in the 
mind, a new act of perception of similar character is primarily the 
necessary occasion. 

The character of the perception in any given case depends upon 
that of the sensation, as this in turn depends upon the character of the 
stimulus which the sense-organ is suited to transmit.— Bryant's Psychology. 




SENS A TION—PERCEPTION 


17 


one mind to another, but must be acquired, it 
follows that the quality of the elements of 
knowledge—sensations and perceptions—is of 
the greatest importance. As knowledge can¬ 
not be imparted by teacher to pupil, it follows 
that telling is not teaching, and that learning 
is not education. Education is self-evolution. 
All that man ever had, he acquired. Moral, 
intellectual and physical conditions are growths, 
not gifts. If it were possible for the teacher 
to pour knowledge into a pupil, the pupil would 
not be greatly enriched by the gift. One may 
awaken in another a percept, but the awakened 
image or idea is a personal creation, the result 
of the self-activity of the soul. 



The next higher stage of knowledge is memory, which may 
be defined as knowledge of particular things or events once present, 
but no longer so. Memory consequently removes one limitation 
from knowledge as it exists in the stage of perception: the lim¬ 
itation to the present. The world of strict perception has no 
past nor future. Perception is narrowly confined to what is 
immediately before it. Memory extends the range of knowl¬ 
edge beyond the present. The world of knowledge as it exists 
for memory is a world of events which have happened, of things 
which have existed. In short, while the characteristic of per¬ 
ception is space relations, that of memory is time relations. 
Knowledge, however, is still limited to individual things or 
events which have had an existence in some particular place, 
and at some particular time.— Dewey. 


CHAPTER II. 


MEMORY IN EDUCATION. 

4 ‘ Memory is the faculty of the mind by which 
it retains the knowledge of previous thoughts, 
impressions, and events.” It is the re-presenta¬ 
tion of a past experience—the knowing over 
again. The image which memory recalls repre¬ 
sents mentally what was once experienced. The 
memory of a pain is not a pain ; the memory of 
an odor is not an odor ; the memory of the face 
of a friend is not a face. That which we retain 
is a constitutional fact; how we do it, no one 
knows. The mystery of recalling is no greater 
than the mystery of perceiving. That we recall 
knowledge of persons, impressions from nature, 
and events in time, no one will deny. Reproduc¬ 
tion is an intellectual process. It is independent 
of sensation. 




20 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


Memory acts upon suggestion ; hence the value 
of association in education. The mind tends to 
modes similar to previous modes. We are even 
unconsciously tempted to do what we have done, 
and to do it in the same manner. The desire to 
repeat a past experience depends upon the fre¬ 
quency and intensity of the past experience. It 
is also quite evident that the power to recall an 
image, fact, or expression, depends upon the 
depth of the original impression—upon the atten¬ 
tion given to it and the feelings aroused by it. * 
This fact bears directly upon method in instruc¬ 
tion. It suggests interest and definiteness. 

Reproduced impressions are similar to the orig¬ 
inal impressions, but weaker. Time weakens all 
kinds'of impressions, but does not destroy them. 
The distinctness of the recalled image, or im- 


* Our ability to recall knowledge in the future, depends largely upon 
the circumstances of its acquisition. Such physical conditions as general 
good health and vigor of brain are conducive to permanent acquisitions, 
while disease and weakness are obstructive. Psychical conditions, such 
as interest in the subject and attention to details, also affect the dura¬ 
bility of knowledge. There is, moreover, the essential condition of suffi¬ 
cient time for distinct impressions to be made and for a certain amount 
of repetition .—ITilVs Psychology. 






MEMORY IN EDUCATION. 


21 


pression, depends upon the clearness with which 
it was first stamped upon the mind. The report 
of a cannon is more fully recalled than the report 
of a pistol; an object of bright color, more dis¬ 
tinctly than one merely tinted; an elephant, 
more vividly than a sheep; a face of irregular 
features than one of regular features. This fact 
of every day experience is full of suggestion for 
teachers. It suggests that instruction should be 
clear, concise, and impressive. 

Images recalled by memory are always less 
vivid than percepts. “Percepts,” says Spencer, 

‘ ‘ are vivid states of consciousness ; memories are 
faint states of consciousness. ” It is self-evident 
that the vividness of the recalled image depends 
upon the character of the percept. In recalling 
the face of a friend, the distinctness of the fea¬ 
tures depends upon the definiteness and depth of 
the percept. In like manner, the pupil’s power to 
recall a fact, illustration, or principle depends 
upon the definiteness and the depth of the orig¬ 
inal impression. Flitting impressions—the mere 



22 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


recitation of the words of the text-book—are 
not long held by the memory.* We recall what 
we have seen more readily and more clearly 
than what has been described to us. In the first 
instance, we recall an experience , in the second, 
a description—a verbal image. Upon this fact 
rests the superlative value of illustration in 
teaching. 

In some schools, pupils learn much they do not 
know—much they never know. The mere abil¬ 
ity to recite text-book matter is not a test of the 
pupil’s knowledge of a subject. The pupil who 
knows, feels that he knows. The pupil who has 
mere learning only believes he knows. Belief is 

* Permanence of an impression is determined not merely by its exter¬ 
nal character, but by the attitude of the mind in relation to it. If our 
minds are preoccupied, even a powerful impression may fail to produce 
a lasting effect. Hence we have to add that the permanence of an 
impression depends on the degree of interest excited by the object, and 
the corresponding vigor of the act of attention. All strong feeling gives 
a special persistence to impressions, by arousing an exceptional degree of 
interest. Where a boy is deeply affected by pleasurable feeling, as in 
listening to an attractive story or in watching a cricket match, he remem¬ 
bers distinctly. Such intensity of feeling, by securing a strong interest 
and a close attention, insures a vivid impression and a clear discrimina¬ 
tion of the object, both in its several parts or details, and as a whole. 
And the fineness of the discriminative process is one of the most import¬ 
ant determining conditions of retention.— Sully. 








MEMORY IN EDUCATION 


23 


passive. It is valueless till it bears fruit in 
knowledge. Belief is theoretical; knowledge, 
experimental. Life has meaning only in action. 
Interest, feeling, and experience relate us to God 
and man. 

No definite rules can be given for training the 
memory. The teacher must understand and apply 
the laws of association ; he must properly con¬ 
nect the several parts of the new matter, and con¬ 
nect the new with the old. Unrelated facts can¬ 
not be remembered; they would have little or no 
value if they could be recalled. Although there 
are no specifics for training the memory, proper 
methods do much to develop and strengthen it. 

Interest trains Memory. —The attitude of 
the mind during the recitation determines the 
character of the impression. If the pupil is not 
interested and attentive, the impression, if any, 
will be weak and transient. Uneasy and rest¬ 
less physical habits disturb the mind ; * hence 


* The mental attitude of attention is accompanied by cessation of bod¬ 
ily movement. When during a walk we try to think closely, we invol¬ 
untarily stand still.— Sully, 




24 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


pupils should sit or stand still during recitation. 
Education should train both body and mind. 

Attention trains Memory. —As memory 
is the re-presentation of a past experience, it 
follows that its power to recall an image, fact, 
or event, depends upon the character of the orig¬ 
inal impression. Memory cannot create anything 
new; it recalls the old. As it can recall only 
what was once experienced, it follows that its 
trustworthiness is due to the character of the 
experience. Recalling is wholly an intellectual 
process in reviving and reconstructing. This 
fact bears directly upon instruction. Instruction 
without attention is an empty, valueless formal¬ 
ity. Retention depends upon attention. If the 
mind of the pupil is pre-occupied, stop the recita¬ 
tion or send the wandering pupil to his seat. As 
pupils attend with more interest in the higher 
than in the lower grades, reviews are less im¬ 
portant in the higher than in the lower branches. 

Repetition trains Memory. —Repetition 
deepens impressions, and awakens similar con- 



MEMORY IN EDUCATION 


25 


cepts. The value of repetition depends upon 
the intensity of the act of repetition and the fre¬ 
quency of the same. Repetition is a form of em¬ 
phasis ; the greater the number of impressions, 
the more lasting the image. A single occurrence 
seldom makes a lasting impression, especially 
upon young children whose minds are readily en¬ 
gaged by the passing events of the hour.* Rut 
mere automatic repetition, parrot-like and un¬ 
feeling, has little or no value. The purely formal 
and mechanical does not create feeling, hence has 
little educational or moral value. A distinct and 
lasting impression requires attention, interest, 
and purpose on the part of the learner; hence, 
the closer the attention and the deeper the feeling, 
the fewer the repetitions necessary to fix the 
image in the mind. The soul is awakened and 
stimulated only by its own action. Negative 
instruction does not inspire. Immature convic- 

* Interest is rarely so keen as to be able to dispense with a number of 
repetitions. On the other hand, no number of repetitions of a lesson will 
avail if there is no interest taken in the subject, and the thoughts wander. 
— Sully. 





26 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


tions do not create feeling. Earnestness in a 
teacher begets earnestness in the pupil. 

Understanding trains Memory. — 4 ‘ Get 
wisdom, but with all thy getting, get under¬ 
standing.” But little interest attaches to what 
we cannot understand. This is unqualifiedly true 
of subjects within the comprehension of man. 
The memory is more tenacious of those images, 
thoughts, and experiences which appealed to 
the reason than of those which were merely 
formal. A clear understanding greatly aids 
in recalling. Thought is more impressive than 
formal words. Reality is more lasting than 
symbols. Mechanical memorization is likely to 
fail just when needed. It has no mental associ¬ 
ations. It does not reach the soul; hence it is 
not trustworthy. 

Important Associations train Memory.— 
Important events naturally strike the mind 
with more force than minor ones; hence they 
are more easily retained, and more readily re¬ 
called. The minor events attach themselves 



MEMORY IN EDUCATION 


27 


to the more important ones, in accordance with 
some law of intellectual gravitation, and thus 
survive by sufferance. Insignificant incidents 
become part of a mass concept. This fact is 
only a re-statement of a principle of association. 
Nothing can be recalled which is not in some 
way associated with what is present in the mind. 
“The fact narrated must correspond to some¬ 
thing in me, to be credible or intelligible.” 
The power to recall or recognize, therefore, de¬ 
pends upon the association of ideas. Memory 
leans upon association. 

Use trains Memory. —Exercise is a means of 
strength, whether physical, intellectual, or moral. 
Trustworthiness of memory is a growth. Mem¬ 
ory is most active and spontaneous in childhood. 
But the memory of childhood is mechanical. A 
child simply remembers ; he does not seek to know 
how or why. This fact suggests method in in¬ 
struction. It suggests that the mechanical ele¬ 
ment in reading, writing, and the fundamental 
rw°s in arithmetic should be mastered before the 



28 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


how or why are required. In the later years, 
reason plays a more important part in education. 
Each faculty of the mind should be trained in the 
order of its natural growth. The faculty which 
is most used is the readiest and strongest. 

Equality of Ideas Weakens the Memory. 
In teaching, preference should be given leading 
facts, principles, and events, Instruction with¬ 
out discrimination is hardly training in an edu¬ 
cational sense. Equalizing facts and principles 
prevents the mind from dwelling upon the im¬ 
portant ones. It masses the ideas. This fact 
is another argument against burdening the mem¬ 
ory with unimportant matter and detail. 

The value of a retentive memory is incalcu¬ 
lable. It is now too generally held that great 
creative power is incompatible with strong mem¬ 
ory. But it is simply absurd to claim that the 
power to recall weakens the power to create. 
Many of the greatest intellects have been men of 
extraordinary memories. Hamilton and Ma- 
cauly, Jefferson and Lincoln, Garfield and Car- 



MEMORY IN EDUCATION 


29 


lyle were remarkable for the trustworthiness of 
their memories. It is the abuse of memory in 
our cram methods of instruction which has uiven 
memory a false place in the “new education.” 
Stuffing pupils with isolated facts for per cents 
not only abuses the memory, but weakens it. 

Where sound methods of instruction are used, 
the memory needs little or no special training.* 
If knowledge is acquired in accordance with the 
well-established principles of intellectual devel¬ 
opment, the memory will receive its due share of 

* The value of the memory in relation to the understanding of facts 
and the practical applications of knowledge should never be lost sight of. 
In training the memory, the teacher should exercise the judgment at the 
same time in the selection of what is really important. In this way over¬ 
loading the mind will be avoided, and the higher faculty will be improved. 
— Sully. 

The chief thing for the teacher to keep in mind is that the training of 
memory is, to a very large degree, training in original apperception—in 
apprehension and assimilation of what is to be remembered. It may be 
laid down as a rule: Do not aim at training memory directly, but indi¬ 
rectly, through the training of the apperceiving powers. The attitude of 
the pupil’s mind should be : I must perceive this just as it is and in all 
its bearings; not, I must remember this. If the original perception, in 
other words, is what it should be, accurate, comprehensive and independent, 
memory may be left very largely to take care of itself. For the first step 
in remembering anything is to get it within the mind, and apperception 
is just this getting it within the mind. If this is thoroughly done, the 
first step in memory is already taken, and it needs no special training of 
its own.— McLellan’s Psychology. 






30 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS . 


attention. But where the laws of mental growth 
are unknown or ignored by the teacher, special 
training may be needed. Pupils who cannot 
“recollect” should be required to commit com¬ 
plete selections, prose and poetry. Only the 
choicest selections should be committed. Selec¬ 
tions containing vigorous thought are not only 
more readily committed, but more easily retained. 

Retention is the outgrowth of perception. 
Perception associates us with the present, mem¬ 
ory with the past. Perception ends with space 
relations; memory extends to time relations. 
Perception is the result of physical experience ; 
memory of intellectual experience. Perception 
recognizes actual, present existence; memory, 
ideal, past experience. The book I see on the 
table is actually there; the book I saw on the 
table yesterday is ideally there. I am related to 
one through experience—by the sense of sight; 
to the other through the memory. Memory is 
the foundation of intellectual growth. ‘ ‘ It 
unites the successive elements of soul life.” 



MEMORY IN EDUCATION 


31 


Without memory, life would be limited to the 
single moment of the present. There would be 
no past. If we could not recollect, we should have 
nothing for the mind to work upon. * Every¬ 
thing we learn is held by the mind, in some mys¬ 
terious way, in the form of impressions. If we 
could not reason about the past we could not in¬ 
terpret the present. But the use of memory 
does not imply merely verbal repetition of the 
thoughts of others. The memory has a higher 
function than recitation. Recalling is really a 
constructive process. The experiences of the 


The senses are the source of all our knowledge about external 
things. But, if we were only capable of observing objects, we could 
gain no lasting knowledge about anything. Knowledge of things is 
not a momentary attainment, vanishing again with the departure of 
the things; it is our enduring possession, which we can make use of 
at any time, whether the objects are before us or not.— Sully. 

The dependence of all the higher powers of Intellect upon Memory 
hardly requires illustration. Our immediate knowledge is confined to 
a very narrow circle of facts, and does not afford us a very extended 
illustration of general principles. It is through our recognition of 
past knowledge that we are able to interpret and understand even the 
little which the present furnishes. It is through acts of Memory that 
we are able to detect those resemblances upon which all our general¬ 
izations are built. Through the aid of Memory we exercise that function 
of Assimilation which broadens and deepens the knowledge acquired 
through the function of Discrimination. It enables us to interpret the 
present in the light of the past.— Hill’s Psychology. 





32 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


past are past, and can be recalled only by recon¬ 
structing them. 

Memory is the store-house which supplies all 
the other activities of the mind with aliment. 
Without the memory, the educator could do little 
or nothing. In education, no other faculty of the 
mind is drawn upon so often. It is simply ab¬ 
surd to decry the memory because some teachers 
abuse it; it is absurd to undervalue the office of 
memory because in some schools memoriter reci¬ 
tations pass for real ones. Memory has its place 
in education. It is a settled fact in Pedagogics 
that the cultivation of the memory is not only 
possible but practicable, and that the only way 
to cultivate it is to use it. The discredit into 
which memory has fallen with some teachers is 
chiefly due to a confusion between memory work 
proper and mere repetition. 

The power to retain knowledge depends upon 
how the knowledge is acquired—upon the meth¬ 
ods of instruction. It depends upon a practical 
application of the laws of association—upon nat- 



MEMORY IN EDUCATION 


33 


ural laws.* Nature is always helpful, if we ap¬ 
proach her in the right way, and at the right time. 
The application of these psychological laws to 
instruction is too obvious to need further elabo¬ 
ration or illustration. The need of teachers is 
a thorough grounding in the elementary and es¬ 
sential principles of educational psychology. 
With these well in hand, the detail which logi¬ 
cally clings to them will take care of itself. The 
greater contains the less. 

* The association of ideas is one of the essential laws of the develop¬ 
ment of the memory, in the sense that our recollections are connected 
with one another, that their connection fixes them in the mind, and that, 
once associated by any bond whatever, the appearance of one suffices to 
evoke the other. 

In the culture of the memory the teacher will then take advantage of 
the association of ideas and of its different principles,—some of them ac¬ 
cidental and exterior, like contiguity in time and space; others intrin- 
sical and logical, like the relation of cause to effect. The more relations 
that are established among the items of knowledge, the greater will be 
the association of ideas, and the more active and tenacious the memory. 
— Compayre. 





In the perception of an object, as an apple, there are actually 
present, it will be remembered, only a few sensations. All the 
rest of the perception is supplied by the mind. The mind sup¬ 
plies sensations coming from other senses besides those in use; 
it extends and supplements them; it adds the emphasis of its 
attention, and the comment of its emotions; it interprets them. 
Now all this supplied material may fairly be said to be the work 
of the imagination. The mind idealizes—that is, fills in with its 
own images—the vacuous and chaotic sensations present.— 
Dewey. 


CHAPTER III. 


IMAGINATION IN EDUCATION. 


‘'‘Imagination,” says Dewey, “is that opera¬ 
tion of the intellect which embodies an idea in a 
particular form or image.” In short, it is the 
representation of an ideal object. It is unlike 
memory. An object of memory is a fact of ex¬ 
perience ; an object of imagination is wholly an 
intellectual creation, dependent on memory alone. 
Imagination disregards experience, yet is limited 
by the senses. Memory reproduces past con¬ 
cepts ; imagination creates new images. Mem¬ 
ory refers to the real; imagination to the real or 
to the unreal. Memory limits the mind to the 
actual in the past; imagination is free to roam 
in the present, past, or future, within the realm 
of the boundless unreal. Hope, prophecy, and 



36 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


the future are wrought out through the imagina¬ 
tion. The sphere of the memory is finite; that 
of the imagination, infinite. 

In memory, the concepts are exact copies of 
the original concepts; in imagination, the con¬ 
cepts are new ; they are new combinations of the 
experiences given in memory. Experience is the 
basis of all soul phenomena. Only that which 
can be remembered can be idealized, and only 
that which has existed in experience can be re¬ 
membered. The boundary of memory is experi¬ 
ence ; of imagination, memory. Memory and 
imagination are intimately related, yet perfectly 
distinct in their activities. 

Imagination leans upon memory, memory upon 
perception, perception upon sensation. Memory 
evolves what was involved in the experiences of 
perception. Imagination reconstructs the ideas 
or images formed through perception and revived 
by memory. Perception and memory deal with 
particular objects; imagination deals with ideal 
objects. Memory is the faculty of the soul which 



IMAGINATION IN EDUCATION 


37 


connects the present with the past; imagination, 
the faculty which idealises the concepts repro¬ 
duced by memory. 

Without imagination, life would hardly be 
worth living ; without ideals, it would be limited 
to cold facts, and would degenerate into a sens¬ 
uous existence. A child’s ideal is his reality. 
Imagination makes the dressed doll a real baby, 
the hobby horse a real horse, ‘ ‘ Santa Claus” a real 
person. It invests the fairy tales of the nursery 
with reality. It gives to the landscape a more 
picturesque appearance, and makes the mount¬ 
ains more majestic, the ocean more sublime. The 
plays of childhood, the occupations of manhood, 
the hopes of old age are made more fascinating 
through the imagination. Without this beautiful 
and serviceable faculty of the soul, the whole pe¬ 
riod of life would be discouragingly monotonous. 
The young live forward in imagination; the old, 
backward in memory. The imagination carries 
us out of the world of reality into the world of 
ideality—out of the finite into the infinite. 





ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


88 


The imagination furnishes us with better as¬ 
sociations than we find in actual life. It magni¬ 
fies the merits of our friends and heroes, and 
thus diminishes their demerits.* It makes the 
good better, the great greater, the heroic more 
heroic, the lover more loving, the mother more 
patient, the father more tolerant. It helps us to 
see and to feel the real; it helps the young to 
live forward in the hope of success, and the old 
to anticipate their reward. Ideals created by 
the imagination may fail of becoming realities, 
but they are inspiring and helpful. + 


* There is a moment in his life when a young man can see no blemish 
in the lady he loves, and no fault in the author he admires. A man in 
love may think that his Angelina sings divinely sweet, though her voice 
is like a crow’s. He interprets the impressions which he receives ac¬ 
cording to previously formed impressions— Goethe. 

As Imagination, the mind demands perfection of sensuous form. In sim¬ 
ple voluntary reproduction of percepts this appears in the selection spon¬ 
taneously made as between one and another percept or group of percepts. 
— Bryant's Psychology. 

t Under the stimulus of an emotion, such as the love of the marvelous 
or the beautiful, imagination is wont to rise above the ordinary level of 
experience, and to picture objects, circumstances, and events surpassing 
those of every-day life. The ideal creations of the imagination are thus 
apt to transcend the region of sober fact. The child’s fairy-land and the 
world of romance, which the poet and the novelist create for us, are 
fairer, more wonderful and exciting than the domain of real experi¬ 
ence.— Sully. 





IMAGINATION IN EDUCATION. 


39 


The imagination is intimately connected with 
the development of the moral faculties. Early 
religious ideas are almost wholly the product of 
the imagination.* A child’s first ideas of God 
are the result of imaginative images. The im¬ 
agination creates ideal heroes,- generals, states¬ 
men, and Christians. It thus becomes an im¬ 
portant agent in character-building. Character 
depends upon ideals, ideals upon the creative 
power of the imagination. Every man has his 
own ideals which he creates out of his associations 
with men and books. 

Ideals determine purpose. That which best 
defines a man is not what he is, but what he is 
trying to become. The value of a life depends 


* The imagination is an idealizing and universalizing power. It at¬ 
tempts to clothe all objects with beautiful forms; to find them significant 
of ideals. It takes the mind beyond its own experiences of perception 
and memory into what is general, what has no concern with private en¬ 
joyments. Imagination thus tends to take the mind beyond the present 
and the apparent. Hence its kinship to religious emotions and ideas. 
Early religious ideas are at once the product of the imagination and the 
most influential means of forming it. Religious emotions, reverence, 
and especially awe, the objects of religious worship, especially the great 
personalities of religion, if rightly presented to a child, call out imagina¬ 
tion more than almost anything else.— McLellan’s Psychology. 




40 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


more upon its purpose than upon what it does. 
We are always greater in what we are than in 
what we do. The ideal is always greater than 
the reality. This must forever remain the rela¬ 
tion between aim and attainment; it is not only 
the logical, but the moral relation between aims 
and ends. 

In education the imagination plays an important 
part.* Intellectual growth is stimulated by it, 
moral purpose developed and strengthened. Dis¬ 
covery, invention, realization depend upon it. 
Art, science, and literature are under obligations 

* Without imagination there is little advance in knowledge, little dis¬ 
covery in the sphere of science ; and in the sphere of morality, without 
some imagination you are quite unable to put yourself in the place of 
another, which is the basis of sympathy and mental support, and the 
foundation of the social fabric. The mere sight of a neighbor’s joy or 
sorrow does not awaken sympathy.— T. G. Hooper. 

Progress in science, art, and morality, man’s three most precious pos¬ 
sessions, would be impossible without it. The ordinary affairs of life re¬ 
quire its constant aid; for no plan could be formed, no invention could 
be originated, without it. All the leaders of the world’s life have been 
men of Imagination. Its inventors have formed new combinations of 
forces, its generals and statesmen have foreseen new dispositions of na¬ 
tions and empires, its reformers have created ideals that were better than 
realities, its writers have conceived of characters superior to living men 
and women, and its moralists have erected standards of virtue and nobil¬ 
ity higher than those existing about them.— Hill's Psychology. 





IMAGINATION IN EDUCATION 


41 


to its magic and transforming power. Without 
imagination, artists and inventors would be fail¬ 
ures, and teachers mere dreamers. 

The meaning of words and sentences depends 
upon imagination. Our reading charts and first 
readers are built upon this psychological fact. 
Primary arithmetics and elementary geographies 
are illustrated, in accordance with this principle. 
On this principle is based the pedagogical idea, 
“The thing—then the word.” The word boy 
has no meaning until it awakens in the mind the 
concept boy. The word dog has no meaning un¬ 
til it awakens in the mind the concept dog. The 
word John has no meaning until it awakens the 
image of a particular boy. No one can write a 
word without first imagining it; then the pen 
makes the image visible. The inventor sees 
the machine in the ideal before he can make it 
real. 

All realities exist first as idealities. The pu¬ 
pil who says “I can’t,” and believes what he 
says, fails; but the pupil who says “I can,” and 




42 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


believes what he says, usually succeeds. In the 
former case, the ideal is failure; in the latter, 
the ideal is success. Realities depend upon 
ideals. All study, whether of books, art, or na¬ 
ture, involves the use of the imagination. It is 
through the help of the imagination that the 
mind combines into pictures what words sym¬ 
bolize. Meaning depends upon interpretation. 
Without the power of the mind to supply words 
with content, they would have no meaning.* 

The growth of the imagination is not gov¬ 
erned by fixed laws, nor has it a conscious devel¬ 
opment. It is subject only to the limitations of 
memory. The training of the imagination is 
incidental to the training of the other faculties. 
School studies like geography, history, and lit¬ 
erature take the pupil beyond mere facts, and 
beyond himself ; hence they afford training for 
the imagination. The study of geography, un- 

* Imagination is the spiritual power to which all instruction turns, and 
upon whose co-operation the success of all instruction depends. The pu¬ 
pil apprehends the words of instruction only when his imagination suc¬ 
ceeds in illustrating them by corresponding concept images.— Linder's 
Psychology. 




IMAGINATION IN EDUCATION 


43 


der proper guidance, affords special training of 
the imagination within healthy limits. The con¬ 
templation of rivers, lakes, seas, oceans, land¬ 
scapes, and mountains requires imaginative ac¬ 
tivity. Effective description without imagina¬ 
tion is impossible. 

‘ ‘ History is not a collection of dates and names, 
but a panorama of persons and events.” With¬ 
out imagination, actions cannot be understood, 
nor events fully interpreted. The real meaning 
of an action and the real interpretation of an 
event are always greater than any verbal descrip¬ 
tion. Without imagination, the pen pictures of 
the greatest thinkers would be but uninteresting 
phrases. The heart of things is always hidden, 
and can be seen only through the eyes of the 
imagination. 

For the training of the imagination no special 
directions can be given. There are no “spe¬ 
cifics ” in educational methods. No one can con¬ 
sciously follow the directions of another and 
succeed. The training of the imagination is an 



44 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


indirect result of proper methods and healthy 
mental nourishment. 

Literature, prose and poetry, abounds in mat¬ 
ter which especially trains the imagination. 
The writings of Sir Walter Scott are particu¬ 
larly well adapted to train the imagination of the 
young. Milton’s “Paradise Lost” and Tenny¬ 
son’s “In Memoriam” are fine products of the 
poetic mind for the oldest and greatest imagina¬ 
tions. The poetic imagination is the highest 
form of creative genius.* 

The creative power of the imagination may 
poison the soul. Ideals formed by association 
with the low and vicious lead to the formation 
of sensuous and destructive habits. Children 
should not be permitted to associate with idlers, 

* “ And as Imagination bodies forth 
The form of things unknown, the poet’s pen 
Turns them to shapes, and gives to airy nothing 
A local habitation and a name.”— Shakespeare. 

“It is the divine attribute of the Imagination that it is irrepressible, 
unconfinable; that, when the real world is shut out, it can create a world 
for itself, and with a necromatic power can conjure up glorious shapes 
and forms and brilliant visions, to make solitude populous and irradiate 
the gloom of the dungeon.”— Washington Irving. 




IMAGINATION IN EDUCATION. 


45 


rich or poor; nor should they be permitted to 
read “dime novels,” or any other form of cheap 
and trashy literature. Only the purest, choicest 
literature should be given to the young. Improb¬ 
able stories, with improbable moral lessons, de¬ 
stroy the imagination and fill the soul with dis¬ 
trust. Much of the Sunday-School literature of 
to-day is wholly unfit for the young. It is the 
product of diseased and bigoted minds. Children 
look with suspicion upon the miraculous in our 
age. They are compelled by their own experi¬ 
ences to reason about the experiences of others. 

The imagination often affects the bodily func¬ 
tions. Disease has been induced by it, cures 
have been performed by it. Men have been put 
to death by merely working upon their imagina¬ 
tions. The idea of a nauseous taste often pro¬ 
duces vomiting. Darwin says: “The mere 
sight of a person about to pass a sharp instru¬ 
ment over a glass is sufficient to excite the well 
known sensation in the teeth.” 

The imagination may become destructively ere- 



46 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


ative. It is “ a good servant, but a bad master. ” 
It often leads the enthusiast into financial schemes 
absolutely impracticable. It leads the rejected 
lover to suicide, and the madman to murder.* 

I pity the teacher whose school work is limited 
to facts. The teacher’s ideals have much to 
do with the pupil’s realities. Ideals create stand¬ 
ards. The real man depends upon the ideal man, 
the real school upon the ideal school. Thinking 
out ideals is building higher realities. When an 
ideal is once conceived, we consciously and un¬ 
consciously, strive to realize it. The ideal leads 
us to work for specific ends. A man without 
ideals is but a dreamer; without ideals, life is 
aimless. The enthusiasm which high ideals cre¬ 
ate will do more for a school than set lectures, 
however classical and eloquent. This is, indeed, 
a cold world for those who live within the limits 
of demonstrable facts and passive belief. Teach¬ 
ers, essayists, and public speakers, who lack the 

Lovers and madmen have such seething brains, 

Such shaping fantasies, that apprehend 

More than cool reason ever comprehends.”— Shakespeare. 




IMAGINATION IN EDUCATION. 


47 


creative power of the imagination are failures. 
They may think correctly, but they cannot in¬ 
spire. Inspiration requires imaginative power. 

The imagination is an indispensable activity 
of the soul; it fills an important place in educa¬ 
tion, moral and intellectual. In all ages, educa¬ 
tors have acknowledged the educational value of 
the imagination. However, it is of less import¬ 
ance than memory, because it is not to the same 
degree a pedagogic faculty. Unlike memory, the 
imagination cannot be trained by direct methods, 
but it can be held in check through the use of 
proper mental aliment. It would be a false sys¬ 
tem of education that would seek to cripple or to 
destroy the imagination—the source which sup¬ 
plies us with so many beautiful and noble things. 



When an impression has been well fixed in the mind there 
remains a predisposition or tendency to reproduce it under the 
form of an image. The degree of facility with which we recall 
any object always depends in part on the strength of this predis¬ 
position. Nevertheless, this predisposition will not in ordinary 
cases suffice in itself to effect a restoration after a certain time 
has elapsed. There is needed further something present to the 
mind to suggest the image, or remind us of the event or object. 
Thus the sight of a place reminds us of an event which happened 
there, the hearing of a person’s name of that person, and so on. 
Such a reminder constitutes the “ exciting” as distinguished from 
the “predisposing” cause. The reason why so many incidents 
of our past life, including our deeply interesting dream-experi¬ 
ences, appear to be wholly forgotten is that there is nothing in 
our present surroundings that distinctly reminds us of them.— 
Sully. 


CHAPTER IV. 


ASSOCIATION IN EDUCATION. 

“Relationship,” says Dewey, “is the essence 
of meaning. ” Scientific knowledge is more than 
a statement of isolated facts. It is knowledge 
of facts plus a knowledge of their relation to 
other facts. The material world suggests the 
value of relation in the study of the intellectual 
world. The universe is not a hap-hazard group 
of planets, but an orderly, related, dependent 
system of worlds. The mental life of man has 
meaning only as it relates itself to the world in 
personal experience. 

Recognition is the reproduction of a concept. 
The reproduction of a concept, however, is 
more than a mere awakening of the concept; 
it carries with it a train of associated concepts. 
In the recognition of an old acquaintance, we 



50 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS . 


may call up many of the circumstances connected 
with the acquaintance, as when, where, and 
how we first met. This fact alone shows that 
reproduction depends upon association; hence 
the value of association in education.* If the 
mind could not reproduce or recall the past, 
everything would forever remain new of un¬ 
known. If it were not for the laws of associa¬ 
tion, it would be impossible to relate the present 
to the past or to the future. The labor of learn¬ 
ing even a little would be immeasurable. 

The mind cannot conceive of an object, event, 
or fact, material or immaterial, as unrelated. 
We do not think of man as an isolated individual, 
but of man as related to man. We do not think 
of God as an isolated King, but of God our 
Father. Meaning depends upon relation. An 
isolated sensation, perception, or conception is 

* “Of a whole group of contemporaneous events, any one may call up 
the image of the other. In the case of a series of events, each link tends 
to call up the adjacent link.”— Sully. 

“ Lulled in the secret chambers of the brain, 

Our thoughts are linked by many a hidden chain; 

Awake but one, and lo! what myriads rise, 

Each stamps his image as the other flies.” 





ASSOCIATION IN EDUCATION. 


51 


avS meaningless in the soul-world as an isolated 
man or tree in the material world. The soul 
cannot hold in consciousness isolated percepts 
and concepts.* So strong is the desire of the 
soul for association, that even unlike concepts 
which enter it at the same time soon establish 
strong friendships. 

Perceptions are dependent on present external 
objects ; hence the order in which they occur de¬ 
pends upon the order in which the senses present 
the external objects. Representations, however, 
being wholly mental products, the order of their 
sequence is determined by the laws of the mind— 
by the laws of association. Ideas are not con¬ 
nected in a hap-hazard way, but by natural laws. 


* Facts, in and of themselves, have relations to one another, or explain, 
that is, furnish reasons for one another. The mind also has an instinct¬ 
ive tendency to connect facts and search for reasons. Now, if facts be 
taught according to the relation which unites them, and if interest be 
awakened in the mind in assimilating the facts, the mind can hardly 
help, even if it would, a final discovery of the relation. The teacher 
must have the greatest confidence in the rationality of facts, when they 
are rightly connected, and in the native tendency of the mind to develop 
itself through, first, unconscious appropriation of this rationality, and, 
second, conscious recognition ot it. If the teacher will but have confi¬ 
dence m facts and in intelligence, he will not try himself to take the 
place both of the facts and of the pupil’s mind.— McLellan's Psychology. 





52 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


The bond of association which connects the 
present and the past is determined by the char¬ 
acter of the habits of the individual thinker. 
But in all cases of reproduction the present, sug¬ 
gesting state must be simdar to a previous state ; 
that is, the suggesting and suggested states must 
be similar, differing only in time. I see a boy, 
and recognize him as the one I saw yesterday. 
I hear a sound, and recognize it as similar to one 
I heard this morning. A present duty recalls a 
similar duty done yesterday. 

In association by similarity, ideas, objects, or 
events which are alike have the power of recall¬ 
ing one another. * This fact plays an important 
part in education; it aids the memory, and thus 
frees the mind from bondage to sense-perception. 
A little thinking will show that association is 
the fundamental law of the mind ; hence its laws 

* Association by similarity illustrates the general principle of all in¬ 
tellectual acquisition, that the mind only gains full possession of a new 
idea, fact, or truth when it assimilates it to kindred elements of cognition 
already acquired. This attaching or linking on of new ideas to old is 
described by the Herbartian psychologists as Apperception . We apper- 
ceive or mentally appropriate a new idea through the medium of some 
similar idea or group of ideas.— Sully. 





ASSOCIATION IN EDUCATION 


53 


should be recognized in the arrangement of 
school studies and constantly applied in instruc¬ 
tion. All the phenomena of memory, imagina¬ 
tion, and reason depend upon the association of 
ideas. The facts of mental association should 
suggest, not only the order of school studies, but 
also the method of instruction. Pedagogics can¬ 
not give specific directions, but only general sug¬ 
gestions. The teacher must think himself into 
a knowledge of the art and science of instruc¬ 
tion, and make his own application of principles 
and laws. Specifics, if they could be discovered, 
could not be used by those who had not thought 
themselves up to the plane of those who discov¬ 
ered them. Gifts do not enrich ; education is an 
unfolding, rather than an accumulating process ; 
every one acquires not only his intellectual 
power, but his value to the world. 

According to Linder, three simple laws cover 
the essential points in reproduction and associa¬ 
tion in education. First, Thf Law of Simi¬ 
larity ; second, The Law of Contrast ; 



54 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


third, The Law of Simultaneity. Accord¬ 
ing to the law of similarity, ‘ ‘ Similar concepts 
reproduce one another. ” A portrait recalls the 
original. The face of a stranger calls up the 
face of a friend, because of its resemblance. 
The taste of a sweet apple just eaten recalls the 
taste of one eaten yesterday. A woman once 
bitten by a snake may be ever after startled by 
the sight of a rope, because of its resemblance 
to a snake. The work done by a phrase suggests 
the work done by a clause. The pupil who un¬ 
derstands square-root is well on his way to a 
mastery of cube-root. 

Contiguity also associates ideas. Smoke sug¬ 
gests fire ; the term jockey, a race ; the odor of 
a rose, a rose; Patti, music ; Mt. Vernon, Wash¬ 
ington ; Concord, Emerson; Calvary, Christ. 
A person’s name may be recalled by recalling his 
appearance or the name of the town in which he 
lives. The sight of a house or town calls up an 
event which happened there. Ideas thus related 
in place or time by one activity of the mind be- 



ASSOCIATION IN EDUCATION 


55 


come one concept, and recur with it as fractional 
parts of it. * 

Ideas are also associated by contrast. ‘ ‘ Con¬ 
trasted concepts reciprocally reproduce each 
other.” Sorrow suggests joy ; vice, virtue ; life, 
death; mortality, immortality; the cold of this 
winter, the heat of last summer. The adversative 
clause in language aids in giving prominence to 
the leading proposition ; thus, Bacon had culture, 
but needed character. A formal character is 
something, but a real character is more. The 
charm of contrast is in the fact that a concept 
rises into a clearer consciousness by the help of 

* Why is it that ideas enter into successive trains, each suggesting the 
next? The answer in a general way is that ideas which have been once 
connected together have the power of calling one another up. Association 
is thus seen to depend upon non-voluntary attention. In the latter, as 
we have learned, as many parts as possible are made one. Now, if one 
of these parts is presented, there is a tendency for it to complete itself by 
suggesting the parts not actually presented. These parts are said to be 
re-presented. Suppose, to take a very simple example, that I have heard 
a celebrated orator deliver a speech; by my acts of attention at the time, 
the speech and the speaker became indissolubly united into one idea. 
Now, years afterward, I read this oration and there recurs to my mind 
the idea of the speaker as he delivered it. The reason is evident; the 
speech is not an independent idea in my mind; it is only one part of a 
larger idea, and it completes itself by suggesting its other member.— Mc- 
Lellan’s Psychology. 






56 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


its seeming opposite. Contrast is a means of 
education. Children are struck by contrast as 
forcibly as by likeness. 

By the law of simultaneity, ‘ ‘ Concepts which 
are simultaneously in consciousness reproduce 
each other.” This is true, whether concepts are 
alike or unlike. The fact is due to association. 
This law associates in consciousness what nature 
has related by juxtaposition in space or time. 
Similarity logically—and simultaneity mechani¬ 
cally—connect concepts. In similarity, we asso¬ 
ciate ideas together because of similar content; 
in simultaneity, because nature has united them 
in one concept. 

‘ ‘ Association, ” says Sully, ‘ 4 clearly implies two 
facts, and a relation of dependence between 
them.” Association by similarity greatly aids 
in the acquisition of knowledge. The law of 
similarity groups together similar ideas. Mental 
acts which occur together seek to recur to¬ 
gether. This is true of all forms of human expe¬ 
rience. In every day’s conversation we have evi- 



ASSOCIATION IN EDUCATION. 


57 


dence of the value of association. A word or 
chance phrase calls up circumstances and events 
which had seemingly passed out of consciousness. 

Every day experience proves that ideas sug¬ 
gest ideas, both similar and dissimilar. This 
fact alone shows that the soul is self-active—that 
its activity is inherent. It is conclusive proof 
that the mind is more than a store-house, that 
an idea is more than a thing. 

Knowledge is acquired and extended by connect¬ 
ing present experiences with those of the past. 
Association relates the present to the past, and 
aids in apprehending the present. It not only 
connects the various elements of soul-life, but it 
is the basis of the mechanical life of the soul. 
The soul, like the body, is subject to and gov¬ 
erned by the laws of habit. 




All intellectual guidance of the young manifestly implies 
the power of holding their attention. Instruction may be said 
to begin when the mother can secure the attention of the 
infant to an object by pointing her finger to it. Henceforth 
she has the child’s mental life to a certain exteut under her 
control, and can select the impressions which shall give new 
knowledge or new enjoyment. What we mark off* as formal 
teaching, whether by the presentation of external objects for 
inspection through the senses, or by verbal instruction, clearly 
involves at every stage an appeal to the attention, and depends 
for its success on securing this. To know how to exercise 
the attention, how to call forth its full activity, is thus the 
first condition of success in education.— Sully. 


CHAPTER Y. 


ATTENTION IN EDUCATION. 


Attention is the application of the mind to any object of sense, 
representation or thought. — Webster. 

By attention I mean fixity of thought, the concentration of the whole 
mind upon one subject at a time; that effort of will by which we are 
enabled to follow what we hear or read, without wandering, without 
weariness, and without losing any particle of the meaning intended to 
be conveyed. —Fitch. 

There are two kinds of attention, voluntary 
and involuntary. Voluntary attention is an act 
of the mind caused by interest in an object, a 
representation, or a thought; involuntary atten¬ 
tion is an act of the mind caused by the unusual 
appearance of an object or a representation, 
or by the force of a statement. Attention may 
also be divided into subjective and objective 
attention. Subjective attention is the act of 
the mind looking inward upon its own crea- 




60 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS . 


tions ; objective attention is the act of the mind 
looking outward upon the external world. 

Giving attention is the mind’s way of bring¬ 
ing into clear consciousness what is presented 
to it. The habit of attending is a growth—the 
result of methodical and persistent training. 
All kinds of habits are growths. * pupils learn 
to see by training their eyes to see, to hear by 
training their ears to hear ; so the mind learns 
to attend by being trained to concentrate its 
powers under the direction of the will. A mind 
trained to habits of attention has many advan¬ 
tages over one not so trained. It can concentrate 
its powers upon an object or thought more 
readily and completely and hold them longer 
upon such object or thought. Thus the trained 
mind appropriates more of that to which it 

^Voluntary attention through long habit may acquire the absorption 
of absent-mindedness. Archimedes would forget to eat his meals, and 
only compulsion forced him to the hath; he lost his life in such a fit of 
abstraction, at the hands of a Roman soldier to whom he was too ab¬ 
sorbed to return the answer that would have saved him. Sir Isaac 
Newton would sit, half dressed, on his bed for many hours of the day, 
when composing the Principia.— Van Norden. 




ATTENTION IN EDUCATION 


61 


attends than the untrained mind, and retains 
it longer. From these essential facts, it is read¬ 
ily seen that attention plays an important part 
in the development of the mental life of man. 

The most significant word in a teacher’s vo¬ 
cabulary is attention. The secret of success 
in teaching is contained in that word. Without 
that indefinable power which secures and re¬ 
tains the attention of pupils, one cannot teach, 
“learning,” says Emerson, “depends upon the 
learner.” The pupil who does not attend 
during recitation is but little more present 
than the pupil who is wholly absent.* Without 
attention and interest, instruction avails little 


^Without attention nothing can he learned. If we do not get per¬ 
ceptions we have no conceptions, and therefore no memory for we have 
nothing to remember. The more complete and prolonged our attention 
the more definite our perceptions, conceptions, and memory. Poor 
memories result from indistinct perceptions and these come from inatten¬ 
tion.— Hughes. 

What is called 11 attention ” is the principal mental condition which 
determines the entire character of every field of consciousness. For all 
our conscious states are characterized by some degree and kind of atten¬ 
tion. We must attend in order to know any object whatever in the 
stream of consciousness. This is as true of our own thoughts, feelings, 
and plans as it is of trees and horses and flowers.— Ladd. 





62 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


or nothing. Attention is the necessary condi¬ 
tion of mental development. The longer the 
mind is concentrated upon a single object or 
thought without weariness, the greater is its 
development. The vividness of our recalled im¬ 
pressions depends upon the quality and amount 
of attention given to them when first perceived. 

Conscious sensation depends upon attention. 
A person may be so thoroughly absorbed ill 
the solution of a problem or so lost in the con¬ 
templation of a scene in nature or art that he 
may not hear the call to dinner or the report of 
of a pistol in an adjoining room. When the 
mind is voluntarily engaged, when it is ag¬ 
gressively attentive, it is lost to all else save 
the object or thought it is urging into a clearer 
consciousness. It matters little to the pupil 
whose mind is wholly absorbed in an interest¬ 
ing stoiy, a difficult problem, or in viewing a 
scene in nature what is going on around him ; 



ATTENTION IN EDUCATION 


63 


he has no consciousness left for any other source 
of sensation. 

Perception depends upon attention. The char¬ 
acter of the percept or impression depends upon 
the attitude of the mind at the time the object 
or thought is presented to it.* That is, we 
clearly perceive only when the mind is attentive. 
Without the pupil’s undivided attention his per¬ 
ceptions will- be so blurred that they will soon 


*The freshness and vividness of sensations are intensified by atten¬ 
tion. An absent-minded person, though a lover of music, may lose the 
pleasing effect of the most beautiful symphony or aria through sudden 
distraction of attention to some wonted train of thought. Either painful 
or pleasurable sensations may be dulled or quite ignored by persistent 
distraction. Consciousness turns the yellow spot of its mental eye upon 
the sensation and it is seen more clearly.— Van Nor den. 

The objects which present themselves to our senses are only clearly 
discriminated one from the other, and classed as objects of such and such 
a class, when we attend to them. So again present impressions only ex¬ 
ercise their full force in calling up what is associated with them when 
we keep them before the mind by an act of attention. 

The immediate effect of an act of attention serves to give greater 
force, vividness, and distinctness to its object. Thus an impression of 
sound, as the tolling of a bell, becomes more forcible, and has its charac¬ 
ter made more definite, when we direct our attention to it. A thought, 
a recollection, is rendered distinct by attending to-it. The intensifica¬ 
tion of consciousness in one particular direction produces thus an 
increase of illumination, and so subserves the clear perception and under¬ 
standing of things.— Sully. 





64 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


fade out, hence his memory will have nothing to 
recall. It is the teacher’s duty to see that pupils 
carry away from the recitation distinct impres¬ 
sions of the leading facts in the lesson. Reten¬ 
tion depends upon perception. * The facts which 
pupils remember and the images which they 
recall are those facts and images which attracted 
and held their attention. 

Teaching depends upon attention. As learn¬ 
ing is the art of giving attention, so teaching 
is the art of securing and retaining attention. 
Teaching a pupil is little more than training him 
in habits of attention. Pedagogics cannot give 
specifics for securing and retaining the attention 
of pupils. Success in teaching depends upon 
knowledge of the laws of the mind, a mastery 


*The vigor of perception depends upon a concentration of attention 
upon the psychic action occasioning it. We may easily see and not per¬ 
ceive, or perceiving, not perceive clearly. That the process may he keen 
and accurate, the mind must direct and supervise. You smell odors of 
flowers—you stop, sniff the air, and perceive that it is mignonette. Or 
you hear a bell, start up, and on second stroke, listening, perceive that it 
is the fire alarm. A steamer passes on the river; you shade your eyes, 
look intently, and perceive the name on the pilot house.— Van Nwden. 




ATTENTION IN EDUCATION 


65 


of the subjects taught, and tact in giving in¬ 
struction. A teacher’s value as an instructor 
depends, in a very large measure, upon his ability 
to secure and retain the attention of his pupils 
during recitation.* 

The key to attention is interest. No teacher 
can long compel the attention of a class of pupils. 
He must interest the class in the subject. Will¬ 
ing on the part of the teacher must end in inter¬ 
est on the part of the pupil, hence the subject 
matter should be clearly within the comprehen¬ 
sion of the pupil and related to subjects he has 

*A teacher might as well stand up and solemnly set about giving a 
lesson to the clothes of the class, whilst the owners were playing 
cricket, as to the so-called class, if the pupils were inattentive. Atten¬ 
tion is a thing to be learned and quite as much a matter of training as 
any other lesson. A teacher will be saved much useless friction if he 
acknowledges this fact, and instead of expecting attention which he 
will not get, starts at once with the intention of teaching it.— Thring. 

For you know, however hard it may be to gain attention, we 
must get it if we are to do any good at all in school. It is of no use 
there to tell children things which go no deeper than the surface of 
their minds, and which will be swept away to make room for the first 
trifling matter which claims admission there. If children are really 
to be the better for what we teach, if the truths which we love so 
well are really to go deep into their consciences, and become the guid¬ 
ing principles of their lives, it is no half-hearted, languid attention 
which will serve our purpose.— Filch. 





66 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


studied. Appropriate, suitable matter presented 
in a pleasant and enthusiastic manner usually in¬ 
terests and pleases others. The pupil who is not 
attracted to a subject by his interest in it, will 
remember little or nothing about it. He may 
go over it in the usual routine way, without ob¬ 
taining any knowledge of it.* Interest is not 
only the mother of attention, but it is also the 
only source of pleasure and profit in the pursuit 
of knowledge. 

Feeling depends upon attention. Without at¬ 
tention, the most impressive scenes in nature, 
the most touching strains of music, the most 

*It should be the skill and art of the teacher to clear the heads of 
children of all other thoughts while they are learning anything, the 
better to make room for what he would instill into them, that it may 
be received with attention and application, without which it leaves no 
impression.— Locke. 

The inattention so lamentably noticeable in many schools, is due 
to the fact that pupils are mere recipients of information and not active 
participators in the progress of learning. They are hearers when 
they should be doers. Their desire for mental activity languishes and 
gradually dies from lack of exercise for their mental powers. They 
are only required to listen or look and remember. They become passive 
because the teacher gives them little opportunity to be anything else. 
They would lose some of their powers altogether if they went to school all 
the time.— Hughes. 




ATTENTION IN EDUCATION 


67 


eloquent appeals to the moral sentiment, pro¬ 
duce no effect, create no feeling. A person may¬ 
be so deeply interested in the investigation of 
a subject or so intensely excited in a physical 
contest that he would not feel a severe bodily 
injury, until the interest or excitement had sub¬ 
sided. Thousands of soldiers have remained 
unconscious of their battle wounds until the bat¬ 
tle was over. Limbs have been amputated with¬ 
out pain to the patient who had, by an effort of 
abstraction, centered his mind upon some other 
object of thought.* 

Willing depends upon attention. Conscious- 


*Before the introduction of chloroform, patients sometimes went 
through severe operations without giving any sign of pain, and after¬ 
wards declared they felt none; having concentrated their thoughts, by 
a powerful effort of abstraction, on some subject which held them 
engaged throughout.— Dr. Carpenter. 

A feeling of pleasure or pain is manifestly intensified when we attend 
to it, or its cause or conditions. A serious bodily injury may hardly 
trouble our mind, if through some exceptional excitement we are inca¬ 
pable of attending to it. Thus a soldier wounded in battle has some¬ 
times hardly felt any pain at the moment. On the other hand a very 
moderate sensation of discomfort, as an irritation of the skin, grows into 
something intensely disagreeable if the attention is fastened on the par¬ 
ticular bodily locality afiected. Finally our actions are vigorous and 
precise in proportion to the amount of attention we give to them.— Sully. 




68 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


ness is always more interested in one of its 
objects than in another. A pupil can will to 
study or to play, which depends upon selective 
attention. If the pupil thinks only of the sport 
of the play, he will choose the play ; if he thinks 
more about the consequences of neglecting his 
lessons than about the fun in the play, he will 
remain in school. It should be clear to any 
thinking teacher that attention is the condition¬ 
ing factor in the development of intellectual life. 
Knowing, feeling, and willing are phases of men¬ 
tal life involving attention. It should also be 
clear that voluntary attention depends upon 
interest. Uninteresting and monotonous recita¬ 
tions cannot long hold the attention of the young 
or the old. Interest in school work depends 
much upon the adaption of the school task to the 
pupil’s ability. 

Seeing depends upon attention. “We see 
only what we are trained to see.” On a journey 
the botanist sees little more than plants and 



ATTENTION IN EDUCATION 


69 


flowers, the geologist little more than pebbles 
and rocks, the artist little more than land¬ 
scapes. Pleasure-seekers and tourists see only 
those objects or scenes which interest them. 
Teachers should train themselves to see their 
pupils.* A glance of the eye should cause every 
inattentive pupil to return to his work. Teach¬ 
ers should see much, talk little. 


*What every good teacher greatly needs is a quick eye and a compre¬ 
hensive glance, which will take in the whole class at one view, or travel 
instantly from one part of it to the other. He should be able to detect 
the first rising of disorder, and the first symptoms of weariness, in an 
instant, and to apply a remedy to it the next instant. It is from want of 
promptitude in noticing the little beginnings of inattention that our 
classes so often get disorderly and tired. I recommend every one who 
wants to be a good teacher, therefore, to cultivate in himself the habit 
of sharpness and watchfulness. He should so train himself that he 
shall become peculiarly sensitive about little signs of inattention. It 
ought to make him uncomfortable to see one child’s eye averted, or one 
proof, however small, that the thoughts of the class are straying from 
the subject. The surest way to increase inattention is to seem uncon¬ 
scious of it, or allow it to pass unnoticed.— FiUih. 

In a world of objects individualized by our mind’s selective industry 
what is called our “experience” is almost entirely determined by our 
habits of attention. A thing may be present to a man a hundred times, 
but if he persistently fails to notice it, it cannot be said to enter into his 
experience. We are all seeing flies, moths, and beetles by the thousand, 
but to whom, save the entomologist, do they say anything distinct? On 
the other hand, a thing met only once in a lifetime may leave an in¬ 
delible experience in the memory. Let four men make a tour in Europe. 
One will bring home only picturesque impressions—costumes and colors, 





70 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


Teachers who cannot see more than one pu¬ 
pil at a time should not hope to govern a school 
properly, nor to secure the attention of a class. 
Many teachers cannot or do not see all of one 
pupil at a time. “They have eyes, but they see 
not.” Most teachers could, if they would, train 
themselves to see their pupils, yet seemingly not 
see them. Pupils should be seen all the time, 
yet not watched. Seeing pupils is an art. 

Attention secures order. A school without 
order is a school without an aim. Quiet not 
only induces thought, but it is the condition 
essential to thinking. No one can either secure 
or retain the attention of a class while there 
is a constant or even an occasional movement in 


parks and views and works of architecture, pictures and statues. To an¬ 
other all this will be non-existent; and distances and prices, populations, 
and drainage arrangements, door and window fastenings, and other use¬ 
ful statistics will take their place. A third will give a rich account of 
the theatres, restaurants, and public halls, and naught beside; whilst the 
fourth will perhaps have been so wrapped in his own subjective broodings 
as to be able to tell little more than a few names of places through which 
he passed. Each has selected, out of the same mass of presented objects, 
those which suited his private interest and has made his experience 
thereby.— Jantes. 




ATTENTION IN EDUCATION 


71 


the room. One pupil walking across the floor 
during a recitation distracts the attention not 
only of the reciting pupil and of the class, but 
also of the teacher and the pupils of the other 
classes. * Restless physical conditions indicate a 
wandering state of the mind. When the mind 
is earnestly engaged the body is at rest. At¬ 
tentive minds in quiet bodies—then the recita¬ 
tion. A pupil may be quiet in body and seem¬ 
ingly attentive yet intellectually absent. An 
attentive presence is the prime condition of 
learning. To inattentive pupils the recitation 
is a mere formality. But order is only one step 
toward the mental condition which trains the 


^Appeals to attention that come through the eye are much harder 
to resist than those that come ,through the ear. Sights distract more 
than sounds. Movements of pupils, therefore, are among the most 
certain causes that lead to inattention to the subject of study. We 
may become so accustomed to sounds, and even to fixed and unchanging 
sights, as to be quite unconscious of them while we are studying. We 
can never reach a condition of concentration so deep as to prevent the 
distraction of our attention by movements within the range of our vision. 
Pupils cannot study well near an open window overlooking the street, 
or a place where workmen are employed. Shading the eye so as to 
shut out the attractions that appeal to it often aids the student in con¬ 
centrating his attention.— Hughes . 





72 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS . 


mind to habits of attention. Mental activity 
must accompany order. The mind must be ag¬ 
gressively active. If pupils are uniformly inat¬ 
tentive — if they have acquired the habit of a 
restless wandering of body and mind during 
recitation, the teacher should look to himself for 
the reason; he is responsible. 

It is intensity of attention that yields per¬ 
manency of impressions.* Passive, comatose 
conditions of the mind do not lead to interest 
or knowledge. Little or spasmodic attention 
means little or no advance. Only intense and 
prolonged attention can bring an object, repre¬ 
sentation, or thought into clear consciousness, 
and only those objects, representations, or 


*The degree of attention we give, whether forced or voluntary, has 
much to do with our noticing distinctions; and, indeed, with the very 
existence of our sensations and ideas in their varied forms. It also 
determines largely how we shall interpret our sensations. Repeated acts 
of attention “ clear up” any object. Thus if a disk, having on it dif¬ 
ferently colored spots or lines or different letters, be displayed a brief 
time, the utmost attention will on the first trial enable us to discern 
perhaps only some three or four of these objects. But soon by repeated 
acts of attention a larger number of the objects is clearly seen after 
the disk has been displayed for the same length of time.— Ladd. 




ATTENTION IN EDUCATION 


73 


thoughts which have been duly held in clear 
consciousness can be recalled. Teachers, accept 
this fundamental fact as a universal fact .and 
set about studying how to get the undivided 
attention of your classes during recitation. 
Without the presence, tact, and enthusiasm 
which compel attention you cannot succeed in 
the schoolroom. 

Earnestness is essential. Without aggressive 
earnestness a teacher cannot secure the atten¬ 
tion of his class. A teacher who would have 
the undivided attention of his class, must throw 
all of himself earnestly into his work. No one 
can interest or instruct a class while asleep. 
Breathing men inspire others. There is a mag¬ 
netic personality in all successful leaders. Pur¬ 
pose is seen in eye, gesture, and speech.* The 

*The teacher’s manner will influence his pupils for good more than 
his precepts or advice. They may laugh at his logic, they cannot resist 
his personal power. If a man is not in earnest his pupils will not be 
zealous. He justifies inattention, if he does not speak and act in such 
a way as to show that he regards his teaching to be of great importance. 
— Hughes . 




74 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


power which commands the respect and obe¬ 
dience of pupils is inherent. 

An indifferent or an incompetent teacher can¬ 
not secure the respect and confidence of his 
pupils, hence he cannot secure their attention. 
Teaching demands the whole of sincere and 
courageous men and women. The young and 
timid cannot build ideals for children. The 
weak cannot lead the weak. The doubting, 
halting, monotonous teacher cannot secure the 
attention of his pupils. Example is the great 
teacher. If the teacher dreams, the pupils 
will dream also. Want of energy in speech 
and action is a frequent cause of failure in 
teaching. A dreaming, lingering form of ex¬ 
pression, accompanied by a slow and uncertain 
bodily movement on the part of the teacher, 
produces similar unhealthy conditions on the 
part of the pupils. Inspiration is born of con¬ 
fidence and energy. Courageous action on the 
part of teachers begets courageous action on 



ATTENTION IN EDUCATION 


75 


the part of pupils. The law of cause and effect 
is a uniform law.* 

In the primary grades the teacher’s success 
depends almost wholly upon her power to secure 
and tact to retain the attention of her pupils. 
Without the methodical tact which compels the 
pupils to give attention, the primary teacher 
is the greatest of all school room failures. Pri¬ 
mary teachers need not only tact to execute, but 
ability to invent. Young pupils love new ways 


^Whether it be school lesson or subject of common talk out of school, 
the enthusiast drags the boy’s mind captive. He makes him attend, 
he makes him interested, he makes him think. Without trying to do 
so, he makes learning seem attractive and delightful. Boys are natur¬ 
ally impressionable, and enthusiasm impresses; they are naturally imi¬ 
tative, and whatever they see a man keen about, they at once begin to 
excite themselves about it. Whether it be poetry, history, politics, art, 
science, natural history, or archaeology, the enthusiast will at once make 
a school of his own imitators about him. And he will do far more than 
this. He will lift boy after boy out of the barbarous intellectual atmos¬ 
phere in which the natural boy lives and moves, and make him con¬ 
scious—though it be only dimly conscious—of the vast world of interest 
which lies around in every direction, waiting till he gird up his mental 
loins and come to explore. This is the real result of a master’s enthusi¬ 
asm—it cultivates. Under plodding, hum-drum teachers who will not 
put soul into their work, a boy may pass through a school from bottom to 
top, doing all the work so as to pass muster, and be a savage at the end. 
But let the enthusiast catch him, though but for a term, and the savage 
is converted.— Sidgivick. 





76 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


of doing things, hence the primary teacher should 
know more than one way of doing the same thing. 
The teacher who knows but one way of pre¬ 
senting a subject or hearing a recitation is little 
more than a machine. The one-method teacher 
and the routine formalist soon put the brightest 
pupils to sleep. Mere formalism stupefies. 

Knowledge is essential. “By how much we 
know, so much we are.”* Without the ability 
to clearly present a subject to pupils the teacher 
can neither get nor hold their attention. Only 
masters inspire and lead others. No teacher 

*A simple, unchanging, almost mechanical routine of tuition may be 
carried out by the commonest intellects, with such small beneficial effect 
as it is capable of producing; but a complete system—a system as hetero¬ 
geneous in its appliances as the mind in its faculties—a system proposing 
a special means for each special end, demands for its right employment 
powers such as few teachers possess. The mistress of a dame-school can 
hear spelling-lessons; any hedge-schoolmaster can drill boys in the mul¬ 
tiplication-table; but to teach spelling rightly by using the powers of the 
letters instead of their names, or to instruct in numerical combinations 
by experimental synthesis, a modicum of understanding is needful; and 
to pursue a like rational course throughout the entire ranges of studies 
asks an amount of judgment, of invention, of intellectual sympathy, of 
analytical faculty, which we shall never see applied to it while the tuto¬ 
rial office is held in such small esteem. The true education is practicable 
only to the true philosopher. Judge, then, what prospect a philosophi¬ 
cal method now has of being acted out! Knowing so little as we yet do 
of Psychology, and ignorant as our teachers are of that little, what 
chance has a system which requires Psychology for its basis?— Spencer. 




ATTENTION IN EDUCATION. 


77 


can teach all he knows, hence he should know 
much that he may teach a little fairly well. 
Every teacher is conscious that he knows his 
subject, or that he does not know it. If he 
knows it, he approaches it with confidence and 
vigor ; but if he does not know it, he approaches 
it with fear and trembling. Incompetency is 
always timid and passive ; competency usually 
fearless and aggressive. The first condition of 
success in the schoolroom is competency. The 
teacher should be accurately and abundantly 
qualified to teach every subject assigned him. 
There should be a positive ring in every state¬ 
ment he makes. 

Pupils must believe that the teacher is quali¬ 
fied to instruct them. They must believe that 
he is not only competent but honest. Charac¬ 
ter is the primary virtue. Teachers need the 
courage born of purpose. There is no sadder 
spectacle on earth than a school teacher who 
has no convictions or who is afraid to think 



78 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


aloud. Dummies and cowards have their uses, 
no doubt, but they should never be placed in 
charge of children. Accurate scholarship, earn¬ 
est effort, and manly independence leave lasting 
impressions upon pupils, but ignorance, indiffer¬ 
ence, and dependence are obstacles in the way 
of intellectual and moral growth. The teacher 
should know the subject rather than its treat¬ 
ment by a special author.* Slavery to text¬ 
books suggests incompetency and creates distrust 
in the minds of pupils. Teachers are more in¬ 
spiring without a text-book in hand than with 
one. One ounce of a living teacher is worth a 
pound of a dead author. Pupils need the inspi¬ 
ration born of personality. 

Method is important. A feeling recognition 
by the teacher that his methods are founded 
upon correct principles does much to sweeten his 

*1 always notice when a man is teaching that the moment he gets 
within sight of the horizon, and feels that he is approaching the limits 
of his own knowledge, he falters; he becomes embarrassed; he loses 
confidence in himself; the children soon detect his weakness, and the 
lesson loses interest immediately.— Fitch. 




ATTENTION IN EDUCATION 


79 


labor, and to strengthen his faith in himself. It 
also gives him more faith in his pupils. The one 
virtue in teaching is concentration. Many teach¬ 
ers present so many facts at a recitation that 
little or no impression is made upon the mind of 
the learner. Teachers should concentrate the 
minds of their pupils upon one thing at a time that 
they may acquire distinct impressions.* The 
more concentrated and intense the act of atten¬ 
tion, the deeper and more lasting the impression. 
The narrower the circle of attention the clearer 
the consciousness of an object or impression. 


*The searchlight of consciousness cannot play upon many groups of 
phenomena at once. If any but confused thinking is to be done, atten¬ 
tion must be directed to one grouping, and abstraction for the time from 
all others enforced. The success of Hegel is in part explained by the 
fact that he took a manuscript to his publishers in Jena on the very day 
when the battle of that name was fought, and to his amazement—for he 
had heard or seen nothing—he found French veterans—the victorious 
soldiers of Napoleon, in the streets.— Van Narden. 






A general idea or concept is the idea in our minds answering 
to a general name, as soldier, man, animal. When we use these 
terms we do not form complete pictures of individuals with their 
several peculiarities. Thus the term soldier does not call up the 
full impression of some one individual that we happen to know, 
with his proper height,, style of uniform, etc. Still less when 
we use the name animal are we distinctly imagining some par¬ 
ticular individual, as our dog Carlo or the elephant Jumbo. 
The general idea or notion is thus not a pictorial representation 
of a concrete thing, hut a general abstract representation of 
those qualities which are common to a number of things.— Sully. 


CHAPTER VI. 


CONCEPTION. 

The composite notion formed in the mind by 
the fusion of the several characteristics common 
to a class of objects is called a concept. A con¬ 
cept, therefore, is not an image, but an intellect¬ 
ual product. It is a general notion—the primary 
act of thinking. The mind can image an indi¬ 
vidual dog, but not a universal dog. The term 
dog does not bring to the mind the image of any 
particular dog, but a composite notion formed by 
the fusion of the images of several particular 
dogs. A concept is the representation in the 
mind of an object belonging to a class. The con¬ 
cepts boy, girl, cat, hat, do not bring to the mind 
the images of any particular boy, girl, cat, hat, 
but of these objects in general. Perception has 


82 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS . 


reference to some particular object, but concep¬ 
tion lias reference to a class of objects.* 

How Concepts are formed. —How is the 
concept cat formed? How does it acquire its 
representative power? It does not bring to the 
mind the image of any particular cat, but is 
clearly ideal in its meaning. It stands for the 
universal element—for the ideal cat, formed in 
the mind by grouping the characteristics common 
to cats. It is formed by abstracting the charac¬ 
teristics common to many cats, comparing, and 
generalizing or classifying them. By sense-per¬ 
ception a child forms as many percepts, or mental 
images, of cats as he sees individual cats. Al¬ 
most unconsciously, he notices certain marks 
common to all of them; that is, by observa¬ 
tion he abstracts or sets aside these common 
marks, and quite as unconsciously he compares 
them and classifies them. In this way he forms 

* It is to be noted that while a Percept has for its subjective aspect a 
sensuous element, the objective form of which is an “Image;” a Concept 
has for its subjective aspect a thought-element, the only adequate objective 
form of which is a word .— Bryant’s Psychology. 




CONCEPTION : 


83 


the concept cat. Likewise the concept horse is 
formed. It stands for the animal horse in gen¬ 
eral—for all breeds of horses—for horses of all 
sizes and colors. It is formed by the assimila¬ 
tion of the marks common to all horses ; hence it 
stands for the universal or ideal horse. In the 
concept horse, the individual horse is included, 
but his identity is lost. He is seen only as a part 
is seen in the whole. In forming the concept horse, 
the child is compelled to abstract or set aside the 
marks common to all the horses he has seen, to 
compare the likenesses, and to class them. These 
several processes, consciously or unconsciously, 
accompany each other in forming every concept. 
It is self-evident that the clearness and perma¬ 
nency of a concept depend upon how it is formed— 
upon the completeness of the several mental acts 
which create it. The permanency of knowledge 
depends upon how it is acquired. The value of 
instruction depends upon its quality. Instruc¬ 
tion cannot create; it can only direct, simplify, 
and hasten. 



84 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


The formation of a concept is best understood 
by dividing the process of conception into three 
stages, namely, abstraction , comparison, and 
generalization . These three stages of mental 
activity are so intimately related and interde¬ 
pendent that for all practical ends they may be 
regarded as different modes of the same opera¬ 
tion. When we perceive a hat, we place it under 
the concept hat; thus we abstract it from all 
other objects, and classify it. In perceiving a 
book on a table, I unconsciously place it under 
the concept book. In doing so, I abstract it from 
all surrounding objects, compare it with my ideal 
book, and assign it to a class. Perception ideal¬ 
izes or interprets the sensation. In this way 
concrete concepts of familiar objects are formed 
by a passive assimilation of the different mental 
acts—by an instantaneous action of the different 
operations of the mind. 

The concept, or general notion, is the charac¬ 
teristic of mind that distinguishes man from the 
irrational animals. An animal has individual no- 




CONCEPTION. 


85 . 


tions, but not general notions. Concepts are con¬ 
crete or abstract. The concepts man, woman, 
are concrete ; manhood, womanhood, abstract. * 

Perception apprehends; conception compre¬ 
hends. Perception has a physical basis; con¬ 
ception is wholly an intellectual process. A per¬ 
cept is a form of sense-knowledge; a concept is 
the product of an act of the mind. A percept 
refers to a particular thing in time or place; a 
concept stands for a class of objects or general 
truths, without reference to a particular time or 
place. 

Without concepts, scientific knowledge would 
be impossible; without classes, thinking would 
be impossible; for the individual has meaning 
only in his relation to the universal. All school 


* In the very process of conception there is involved the recognition of 
identity in characteristics as between one and another of a series of ob¬ 
jects. For this reason the same name can be rightly applied to different 
objects. Naming is, in truth, a process of identifying—of seeing the one 
in the many. It is to see in that object all those fundamental character¬ 
istics constituting each of the other objects of the series. It is to see that 
in such series the particular objects are really different from one another 
only in an external or formal sense; that essentially, in their fundamental 
nature, they are identical.— Bryant's Psychology. 




86 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


study is a study of concepts.* The study of lan¬ 
guage is a study of the meaning and relation of 
concepts. The effort to grasp the meaning of a 
word exercises all of the conceptual powers. 
Before a pupil’s imagination can fill in a word 
with meaning, he must abstract it and classify 
it. This fact suggests that the concrete and pic¬ 
torial should precede the abstract and technical 
in school studies—that a reflective use of words 
should accompany the study of abstract subjects. 

Instruction in the lower grades should be given 

* Conception, as the apperception of the universal, the grasping of it in 
a single act or thought, therefore, is not a new kind of knowledge, dis¬ 
tinct from perception. It is the more complete development of the ele¬ 
ment which gives meaning to the percept, and which renders the act of 
perception possible. When we perceive a hook, in the very act of per¬ 
ception we classify it; we bring it under the concept “ book.” Percep¬ 
tion is, as we have repeatedly seen, the idealizing of sensations. The 
mere existence of sensations does not constitute knowledge of a particular 
object. Sensations must be interpreted; they must be brought into rela¬ 
tion with each other, and with the past experience of the self. Percep¬ 
tion is not passive reception; it is the active outgoing construction of 
mind. In perception, however, these elements of idealization, of relation, 
of mind activity, are not consciously present; they are absorbed, swal¬ 
lowed up in the product. In conception they are definitely brought out. 
The self here makes its own idealizing, relating activity its object of 
knowledge; it grasps this activity, and the product is the concept. Con¬ 
ception is, in short, but the development of the idealizing activity in¬ 
volved in all knowledge to the point where it gains distinct conscious re¬ 
cognition, freed from its sensuous, particular detail.— Dewey. 




CONCEPTION. 


87 


as far as possible by means of object lessons. 
Concrete facts should lead the way to abstract 
ideas. Illustration is attended with greater in¬ 
terest than mere verbal description. Words 
have a real meaning only when their signif¬ 
ication is illustrated in the mind by mental 
images. Objective methods of study are as ap¬ 
plicable in the physical sciences as in the more 
elementary studies. At all ages, illustrative in¬ 
struction is better calculated to excite interest 
and hold attention than mere memory recitation. 
We may get learning from books and teachers, 
but learning is. not knowledge. Knowledge is 
correspondence with reality. 



It is common to distinguish three stages of thinking. First 
of all, there is the formation of general ideas, general notions, or 
concepts, which may be said to constitute the elements of thought, 
such as “material body,” “weight.” This is called conception. 
Next to this comes the combining of two concepts in the form of 
a statement or proposition, as when we say “material bodies 
have weight.” This is termed an act of judging. Lastly, we 
have the operation by which the mind passes from certain judg¬ 
ments (or statements) to certain other judgments, as when from 
the assertions “ material substances have weight,” “gases are ma¬ 
terial substances,” w T e proceed to the further assertion “gases 
have weight.” This process is described as reasoning, or drawing 
an inference or conclusion.— Sully. 


CHAPTER VII. 


JUDGMENT—R EASON. 


The next stage in the process of thinking 
is judgment. Judgment is the process of as¬ 
serting agreement or disagreement between two 
ideas. Every judgment asserts something of 
something; hence it involves two concepts. 
Every judgment is expressed in the form of a 
proposition, the sentence being the symbol. A 
word alone expresses sense-perception, but a 
sentence is required to express a judgment. 
Every judgment contains three distinct elements : 
(1) that of which something is affirmed, or the 
subject-term; (2) that which is affirmed, or the 
predicate-term; (3) the copula-term, or that 

which makes the affirmation. Thus, in the sen¬ 
tence “sugar is sweet,” “sugar” is the subject- 



90 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


term, “sweet” the predicate-term, and “is” the 
affirming term. It is thus seen that a judgment 
takes a concept and says something about it. * In 
the judgment “sugar is sweet,” the principal 
concept is the subject-term and the related con¬ 
cept is the predicate-term. Whatever is known, 
is known under the relation of subject and pred¬ 
icate. 

Reasoning. —Reasoning is the soul’s mode of 
comparing judgments. When a process of rea¬ 
soning is reduced to a systematic form, it makes 
a syllogism. 4 ‘ A syllogism is a combination of 
three properly related judgments.” The first 
judgment is the Major Premise, the second the 


* Judgment, in its psychological acceptation, is the essential act of 
thought, the life, so to speak, of the mind. It is in the judgment that 
ideas are united and made alive; it is in the proposition, the verbal ex¬ 
pression of the judgment, that words, the signs of ideas, are brought to¬ 
gether and take bodily form. 

To judge and to reason are distinct operations of the mind, irreducible 
to any other. In the activity of the intelligence there are three degrees, 
three essential moments: conceiving or having ideas, judging or associ¬ 
ating conceptions, reasoning or combining judgments. Just as judgment 
is the coupling of two ideas united by an act of affirmation expressed by 
the verb to be, so reasoning is a sequence or a series of judgments united 
one with another in such a way that the last seems to be the legitimate con¬ 
clusion and necessary consequence of those that precede.— Compayri. 




JUDGMENT-REASON. 


01 


Minor Premise, the third the Conclusion. 
Illustration : (1) All men are mortal; (2) John 

Jones is a man; (3) Therefore, John Jones is 
mortal. The syllogism is deductive reasoning ; 
it proceeds from the universal to the particular; 
hence the validity of the conclusion depends upon 
the soundness of the major premise. Every 
conclusive judgment is a sound judgment. Fal¬ 
lacies result from false premises, as in the fol¬ 
lowing example : All teachers are good men ; 
Adam Smith is a teacher; therefore, Adam 
Smith is a good man. This is not a valid syllo¬ 
gism for the obvious reason that all teachers are 
not good men. If all teachers are good men, 
Adam Smith is a good man because he is a teacher. 
Whatever is true of all of a class is true of any 
of the class. Common sense is the best syllo¬ 
gism ; it is the rectifier of all forms of rea- 
soning. 

Reasoning connects the universal with the par¬ 
ticular by finding universal facts in particular 
facts or by finding particular facts in universal 



92 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


facts. The first process is inductive reasoning; 
the second, deductive reasoning. Induction 
examines particular facts, and discovers a law; 
deduction connects the universal law with a par¬ 
ticular case. Thus, by weighing- several pieces 
of cork and lead of equal dimensions, I find that 
each piece of lead is heavier than the piece of 
cork of the same size ; hence I conclude that lead 
is heavier than cork. That is, I find a general 
fact from several individual facts. Again, we 
multiply the fraction 2 /$ by Va- by multiplying the 
numerators together for a new numerator and 
the denominators together for a new denomina¬ 
tor. From this fact and other similar facts 
found by analysis, we have the rule for multiply¬ 
ing one fraction by another. That is, in partic¬ 
ulars we find the universal. The universal in 
this instance takes the form of a rule in arith¬ 
metic. We pass from parts to wholes, from par¬ 
ticulars to universals, whether of concrete ob¬ 
jects or of intellectual or moral truths. 

By noticing the good effects of several individ- 




JUDGMENT—REASON. 


93 


nal acts of charity, we infer that all acts of 
charity are helpful, and we express the judgment 
in the form of an abstract moral truth, “Charity 
is a virtue.” By experiment, Franklin discov¬ 
ered the laws of electricity. By inference, Gal¬ 
ileo ascertained the shape and motions of the 
earth ; Leverrier discovered an invisible planet; 
Columbus an unknown world. It is thus seen 
that inductive reasoning is an upward movement 
of thought from particular facts to a general 
truth. We form most of our opinions by induc¬ 
tion. Modern methods of instruction are induc¬ 
tive. It is the only process of reasoning with 
the very young or with the very ignorant. 

Deduction is the inverse of induction; it finds 
the particular in the universal. It is a down¬ 
ward movement from a general statement to a 
particular statement; as, all wood will burn; 
oak is a wood; therefore, oak will burn. All 
substances which are heavier than water will 
sink; lead is heavier than water; therefore, 
lead will sink. A circle is a plane figure bounded 



04 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


by a curve, all points of which are equally distant 
from a point within called the centre; the figure 
on the blackboard is a plane figure bounded by a 
curved line, all points of which are equally dis¬ 
tant from the centre ; therefore, the figure is a 
circle. These are clear illustrations of deductive 
reasoning. Syllogistic or deductive reasoning is 
little used in school work, except in the higher 
mathematics. Physics may be regarded as a 
typical inductive study, geometry, a typical de¬ 
ductive study. 

The following is a brief summary of the suc¬ 
cessive steps in the process of acquiring knowl¬ 
edge. Through consciousness the soul recog¬ 
nizes the self as separate and distinct from the 
not-self; through the senses, it recognizes all 
else as external, and not the self; through per¬ 
ception, it forms mental images of individual ob¬ 
jects present in the external world; through 
conception, it forms classes of objects or ab¬ 
stract general truths ; through judgment, it de¬ 
termines the truth or falsity of propositions; 



JUDGMENT— REASON. 


95 

through reasoning, it sifts the wheat from the 
chaff and arranges the product of reason in its 
logical order. The relation which these steps 
bear to each other should be thoroughly under¬ 
stood by teachers. The growth of knowledge is 
a series of logically related mental acts of in¬ 
creasing complexity and completeness. 

A child begins to think when it can distinguish 
its mother from others—when it can distinguish 
between two colors, two sounds, two odors, two 
flavors. The process of acquiring knowledge is 
a gradual one; it starts with sensation, and ends 
with reason. It is a process of gradually increas¬ 
ing complexity—perception being more complex 
than sensation, conception than perception, rea¬ 
son than judgment. In perception, the mind is 
limited to a particular object or event in present 
time ; in memory, to a particular object or event 
in past time; in imagination, to a particular 
form of an image; but in thinking, the mind is 
free to form its own image within the limits of 
given statements and experiences. 



96 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


As thinking is ‘ ‘ going over and arranging cog¬ 
nitions,” it follows that the concept is the basis 
of the higher intellectual processes. A concept 
is that about which we think; it is the logical 
subject of thought. Thinking aims to discover 
the meaning of universal facts. Thinking is con¬ 
cerned with ideals—with general notions or con¬ 
cepts. It is the power of the soul to form and 
to apply general ideas ; the power to find relation 
and meaning. We do not think of a particular 
man, horse, or soldier, but man, horse, soldier in 
general; that is, we consider the class qualities. 
The more thoroughly we understand a class of 
objects, the more thoroughly we understand the 
individual objects comprised in the class. We 
think because of the universal element in all 
things—because of the relation which exists be¬ 
tween all things. Meaning is determined by re¬ 
lation. Every thought leans upon other thoughts, 
and depends upon them for interpretation. 



PART SECOND. 


Practical Pedagogics. 



Habit is the general form which culture or the outcome of ed¬ 
ucation takes. For, since it reduces a condition or an activity 
within ourselves to an instinctive use and wont (to a second na- 
. ture), it is necessary for any thorough education. But as, ac¬ 
cording to its content, it may be either proper or improper, ad¬ 
vantageous or disadvantageous, good or bad, and according to its 
form may be the assimilation of the external by the internal, or 
the impress of the internal upon the external, education must 
procure for the pupil the power of being able to free himself 
from one habit and to adopt another. Through his freedom he 
must be able not only to renounce any habit formed, but to 
form a new one; and he must so govern his system of habits 
that it shall exhibit a constant progress of development into 
greater freedom. We must discipline ourselves constantly to 
form and to break habits, as a means toward the ever-developing 
realization of the good in us.— Rosenkranz, 



CHAPTER VIII. 


HABIT IN EDUCATION. 


The end of education can be reached only by 
the formation of right habits. The formation of 
proper habits during the early years of life is 
very important. * It is not an easy task to sub¬ 
stitute a proper for an improper habit. It is hard 
to dislodge that which has become almost part of 
self, 4 4 For use can almost change the stamp of na¬ 
ture.” All conditions, physical, intellectual, and 
moral, are growths. Character is a growth, not 


*The growth of habit is much easier in the early, " plastic” period of 
life than later on. A more extended process of acquisition, a larger 
number of repetitions, are needed to fix action in a definite direction in 
later years. Not only so, since the habitual modes of movement acquired 
in early life, like the first impressions about things, are most lasting and 
difficult to get rid of, the formation of good habits later on is obstructed 
by the tenacity of the opposed early habits. A child that has early ac¬ 
quired an awkward way of sitting, or unpleasant tricks of manner, gives 
special difficulty to the educator. Movement tends to set in the old di¬ 
rection, and many a painful effort is needed to check the current.— Sully. 





100 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


a mere inspiration or resolution. Civilization 
and Christianity are growths. Nothing in the 
natural or in the spiritual world suggests spas¬ 
modic or irreverent results. The condition of a 
life is developed from within, not from without; 
it depends upon the constant , upon purpose. 
Habit is the effect of repetition. By repetition 
we acquire tendency and facility. * The tendency 
to do an act depends upon the desire acquired by 

* A repeated act is easier to perform than an unaccustomed act. This 
is the law of habit. A lesson gone over with care many times, can be re¬ 
peated without the book, because the soul has acquired the habit of cre¬ 
ating certain states of consciousness in a given order, and hence the repe¬ 
tition of the lesson becomes progressively easy.— Hill’s Psychology. 

The fundamental fact emphasized by the word habit is that all actions 
become more perfect by repetition. Just as bodily movements, at first 
tentative, unsteady, and involving effort, come by repetition to be certain, 
steady, and easy, so the higher exercises of the will in the arrest of im¬ 
pulse and deliberation tend to grow more perfect by steady pursuance.— 
SuUy. 

The habitual act thus occurs automatically and mechanically. When 
we say that it occurs automatically, we mean that it takes place, as it 
were, of itself, spontaneously, without the intervention of will. By say¬ 
ing that it is mechanical we mean that there exists no consciousness of 
the process involved, nor of the relation of the means, the various mus¬ 
cular adjustments, to the end, locomotion. The various steps of the pro¬ 
cess follow each other as unconsciously as the motions of a loom in weav¬ 
ing. The tendency of habit is thus to the formation of a mechanism 
which the mind may employ and direct, but which, once started, goes of 
itself. This constitutes the special function of habit, or of association.— 
Dewey. 





HABIT IN EDUCATION. 


101 


repeating it; the facility with which an act is 
performed depends upon the frequency of its 
repetition. As habit becomes permanent, and 
thus excludes other habits, it tends to determine 
character. In fact, habit moulds character.* 

In the space allotted to this subject, I can 
briefly notice only those habits which are essen¬ 
tial to the growth of moral purpose. These are : 
Habits op Order, Habits of Industry, 
Habits of Attention, Habits of Prompt¬ 
ness, Habits of Obedience, Morae Habits. 

Habits of Order. —Webster says habit is 
“The usual condition or state of a person or 
thing, either natural or acquired. ,, If we would 


*The importance of correct habits to any individual can not be over¬ 
rated. The influence of the teacher is so great upon the children under 
his care, either for good or evil, that it is of the utmost importance to 
them, as well as to himself, that his habits should be unexceptionable. 
It is the teacher’s sphere to improve the community in which he moves, 
not only in learning, but in morals and manners; in every thing that is 
“lovely and of good report.” This he may do partly by precept,—but 
very much by example. He teaches wherever he is. His manners, his 
appearance, his character, are all the subject of observation, and to a 
great extent, of imitation, by the young in his district. He is observed 
not only in the school, but in the family, in the social gathering, and in 
the religious meeting. How desirable, then, that he should be a model 
in all things!— Page. 




102 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


have well-bred young men and young women, we 
must habituate our boys and girls to habits of 
cleanliness, quiet, order, and deference. * Most 
human actions are acquired by practice. A cor¬ 
rect use of our mother-tongue can be acquired 
only through practice in using correct English. 
“Practiced in youth, accomplished in age,” 
“Practice makes perfect,” and “By habit many 
things become second nature,” are all old sayings 
which proclaim not only the value of repeated 
effort, but also the strength of habit. Habits of 


"Education seeks to transform every particular condition so that it 
shall no longer seem strange to the mind or in any wise foreign to its 
own nature. This identity of the feeling of self with the special charac¬ 
ter of anything done or endured by it, we call habit. Character is a 
bundle of habits. It conditions formally all progress; for that which is 
not yet become habit, but which we perform with design and an exercise 
of our will, is not yet a part of ourselves.— Rosenkranz. 

Habits originate either from external circumstances or from an act of 
Will. Many habits are induced by conditions in our surroundings to 
which we give little attention. We adapt ourselves to our environment, 
and habits are spontaneously formed. Other habits originate from a 
specific act, or series of acts, of Will. This is the origin of most of oui 
complex habits; such as reading, writing, playing on musical instru¬ 
ments, etc., which require repeated and attentive mental direction in or¬ 
der to establish them. In general, habit is organized by repeating an 
action. It is disorganized by discontinuing the action. A habit which 
is common to many persons, or widely prevalent among them, is called a 
custom. Customs are the habits of communities.— Hill’s Psychology. 




HABIT IN EDUCATION. 


103 


order can be established only by constant vigi¬ 
lance. The only explanation of order is design— 
purpose. Order is natural; disorder, unnatural. 
“Order is Heaven’s first law.” 

Without order in the arrangement of its work, 
the school is little more than a school in name. 
In no other department of business is order more 
necessary than in the school. The familiarizing 
of children with habits of order will have a last¬ 
ing effect not only upon their school lives, but 
upon their after lives.* The teacher who leads 
children to establish habits which will serve 
them in after life has accomplished a great work ; 
he has led them to do for themselves what no 
amount of text-book facts could ever do for them. 


* There is great need that education should form good habits,—habits 
of mind, habits of feeling, habits of action. How shall it form them? 
How shall it succeed in creating that second nature which will consti¬ 
tute the final character of the man? 

In truth, the habits are formed of themselves by the repetition of the 
same act. Some are derived from the inclinations and instincts; others 
from reflective acts in which the will has co-operated. The part of the 
educator is, then, to keep watch, both over the instincts and the first 
manifestations of the will. On the start he will cut short evil tendencies, 
and nip in the bud vicious inclinations. Evil must be cut away to the 
very root.— Oompayrt. 




104 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


A correct habit not only argues its own merits, 
but suggests other proper habits. Like seeks 
like. 

Habits of Industry.— “There is no excel¬ 
lence without great labor.” Only through expe¬ 
rience are we enabled to comprehend the full 
meaning of many familiar sayings which, with 
the young, have little or no meaning. Mind is 
developed only by its own efforts. Use means 
growth ; disuse, decay. The law of development 
is a uniform law; it applies to all forms of 
growth. Muscle is developed by using it in 
those occupations or exercises which require the 
use of muscle ; intellect by thinking ; moral char¬ 
acter by doing moral deeds, not by mere 1 y be¬ 
lieving. 

School children should be made to feel that the 
school house is a work-shop, not a play-house; 
that results can be obtained only through effort. 
They should be made to feel that the school is an 
opportunity; that the teacher can only direct; 
that the value of the school depends almost 



HABIT IN EDUCATION 


105 


wholly upon the pupil’s inclination and ability to 
use his opportunity. “Learning,” says Emer¬ 
son, “depends upon the learner.” Pupils should 
be trained to habits of industry. 

Habits of Attention. —It is self-evident 
that attention must accompany every successful 
effort.* With young children, the attention is 
gained chiefly by the tact of the teacher, and 
tact is more a gift than an acquisition. The at¬ 
tention of older pupils can be in some measure 


* Voluntary attention, like voluntary action as a whole, is perfected in 
the form of habits. By a habit we mean a fixed disposition to do a thing, 
and a facility in doing it, the result of numerous repetitions of the ac¬ 
tion. The growth of the power of attention may be viewed as a progres¬ 
sive formation of habits. At first voluntary concentration of mind re¬ 
quires a spur and an effort. As soon as the pressure of strong motive is 
withdrawn, the young mind returns to its natural state of listlessness or 
wandering attention. A habit of attention first appears as a recurring 
readiness to attend under definite circumstances, for example when the 
child goes into his class-room, or is addressed by somebody.— Sully. 

It is not only in study, in intellectual labor, that attention is profit¬ 
able. The conduct of life and the virtues of character have no less need 
of it than excellences of the intelligence have. Defective attention in 
practical life is the synonym of thoughtlessness and heedlessness. To be 
habitually attentive is not only the best means of learning and progress¬ 
ing in the sciences, and the most effective prayer which we can address to 
the truth in order that it may bestow itself upon us, but it is also one of 
the most precious means of moral perfection, the surest means of shun¬ 
ning mistakes and faults, and one of the most necessary elements of vir¬ 
tue.— Compayrf. 




106 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


controlled by the will of the teacher ; but suc¬ 
cess depends upon adaptability, purpose, and 
energy. It is a personal result. 

Attention is merely a concentration of the 
mind upon a particular object or thought. The 
soul has the ability to concentrate its whole 
power upon a single thing. This fact is an 
every-day experience with all of us. Pupils 
should be trained to habits of attention. The 
means whereby the attention can be gained are 
not general, but special. No recipe can be given 
which would be even generally applicable. In¬ 
terest on the part of the teacher usually creates 
interest on the part of the pupil. Purpose on 
the part of the teacher generates purpose on the 
part of the pupil. 

The attention of young children naturally 
goes out to the world of physical objects ; hence 
teachers should seek to gain their attention by 
means of visible objects. Instruction in the 
primary grades should be given by means of 
objects; the thing , first. At all ages the undi- 



HABIT IN EDUCATION. 


107 


vided attention is a pre-requisite to progress in 
school studies. The means of getting it are a 
test, not only of a teacher’s natural fitness for 
his work, but of his honesty of purpose. In gen¬ 
eral, if a teacher cannot get the attention of his 
pupils, the fault lies with him, not with the pu¬ 
pils. The majority of children are not only will¬ 
ing, but anxious to learn. When they are not 
interested, there is a natural reason for their 
lack of interest. 

Habits of Promptness. —Promptness is a 
virtue of incalculable value.* It is a measure of 
purpose and integrity. Promptness in execut¬ 
ing the daily programme of school is of the great¬ 
est importance. The school should begin at pre¬ 
cisely the time stated; not a few minutes earlier, 
nor a few later. Every recitation should be 
called at the exact minute given in the pro¬ 
gramme, and ended at precisely the time stated. 

* This, as a habit, is essential to the teacher. He should be punctual 
in everything. He should always be present at or before the time for 
opening the school. A teacher who goes late to school once a week, or 
even once a month, can not very well enforce the punctual attendance of 
his pupils.— Page. 




108 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


It should be neither longer nor shorter than the 
time appointed for it. Teaching a pupil prompt¬ 
ness by example is better for him than teaching 
him arithmetic by rule. 

The school furnishes many opportunities for 
training in promptness, or punctuality. Experi¬ 
ence proves that promptness is a habit—the re¬ 
sult of training. The time set for a perform¬ 
ance has nothing to do with the punctuality of 
the audience. If tardiness is permitted in a 
school, there would be as many pupils tardy at 
10 o’clock as at 9 o’clock. The value of training 
in habits of promptness is felt throughout life. * 
Training is the pupil’s greatest need—this is the 
primary function of the school. 

Habits of Obedience. —A cheerful obedience 
to legally constituted authority is a mark of good 
breeding. As soon as the will of the child be¬ 
gins to show itself, habits of obedience should 
be inculcated. The school, next to the home, 


* I could never think well of a man’s intellectual or moral character, 
if he was habitually unfaithful to his promises.— Emerson. 




HABIT IN EDUCATION. 


109 


furnishes the greatest opportunity for training 
in habits of obedience. It is not only the legal 
but the moral duty of the teacher to train his 
pupils in habits of obedience.* The teacher is 
the law-giver. His authority is supreme, if ex¬ 
ercised within just and reasonable limits. The 
highest courts have declared his right to demand 
obedience of his pupils. Without the legal and 
moral right and power to govern his school, the 
teacher would often be compelled to abandon it. 
It is as much the teacher’s duty to train pupils 
in habits of obedience as it is to train them in 
methods of arithmetic. The primary office of 
the school is training in habits, not “cramming” 
with facts. 

Moral Habits. —The school should train 
children in habits of politeness and truthfulness. 
The practice of “fibbing” by the girls and lying 

*The manners of pupils are too much neglected in most of our schools, 
and, I am sorry to say, in most of our families. Our youth are growing 
up with all the independence of sturdy young republicans,—and, in their 
pride of freedom from governmental restraint, they sometimes show a 
want of respect for their seniors and superiors, which is quite mortifying 
to all lovers of propriety.— Page. 




110 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


by the boys should not be permitted to grow into 
habit.* School “fibbing” and lying are much 
like society “fibbing” and lying; they do not 
suggest total depravity, but expediency. They 
should be dealt with firmly, but kindly. Before 
the child is hedged in by formal restrictions, he 
can be turned in the direction which his charac¬ 
ter will ultimately assume. Education should 
not only train the child in proper habits, but it 
should strive to wean it away from improper 
ones. It should combine the acquisition of good 
habits with the destruction of bad ones. Im¬ 
proper habits are forgotton only by disuse. 
Even an occasional revival of a bad habit tends 
to make 'the substitution of proper habits more 
difficult. The strength of a habit is proportional 
to its age and to the frequency of its revival. 

* The moral or virtuous character is the resultant of the several forms 
of self-control carried to the point of perfect habits. Thus a perfect 
moral character includes the familiar habits involved in a wise pursuit 
of individual good, such as industry, orderliness, temperance, the habitual 
control of the feelings, or moderation, and the firm control of the 
thoughts involved in reasonableness. It includes further the habits im¬ 
plied in a perfect fulfillment of human duty, as obedience, courtesy, ve¬ 
racity, justice, and beneficence.— Sully. 




HABIT IN EDUCATION . 


111 


In its incipiency it is weak, but it steadily grows 
in strength. Habits dull the faculties ; the fre¬ 
quency of an act tends to make it automatic, yet 
right habits are the only guarantees of right 
conduct. The school should so restrain the pu¬ 
pil that his opportunities for seeing bad exam¬ 
ples and practicing bad habits are reduced to the 
minimum. At all periods of life the conduct of a 
person depends largely upon his environments. 

The child takes his first lesson in civility when 
he is required to treat his associates with polite¬ 
ness and deference. Teachers should foster a 
sense of honor in all their relations with their 
pupils. But this cannot be done through formal 
ceremonies. Only the real educates. Even at 
the risk of trespass upon the duty of home, the 
school should insist upon proper habits. Habits 
are more valuable and more lasting than school¬ 
book facts; they are the elements which deter¬ 
mine character. 

The real character and force of habit are 
hardly understood by the young teacher. ‘ ‘ Habit 



112 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


goes further than precept, for it is both a state 
and a disposition.”* By repetition the mind is 
predisposed. Thus habit not only saves time, 
but it saves power. This is true, whether the 
habit involves mental or physical action. Prac¬ 
tice not only selects the proper mental faculties, 
but it also selects the proper physical powers. 
Habit, whether of mind or body, is automatic 


* No action can be acquired unless a faculty for it belongs to the con¬ 
stitution of the being who attempts to perform the action; every action 
can be rendered more perfect by habituation. The laws of habit are of 
prime importance in education, for its principal aim is to induce certain 
habits of mind and body in the pupil. And yet its aim is not to produce 
mere automata. Pursuit of truth, submission to rightful authority, and 
industry are general habits absolutely necessary to a well-educated mind. 
The first condition of progress in knowledge is the formation of proper 
habits of study. The school cannot impart great learning, but it may 
form in the learner habits that will, in the course of a life-time, lead to 
great accomplishments. Attention, patience, and activity are the cardi¬ 
nal virtues of scholarship, and these are ttie most precious fruitage of the 
school. In the earlier stages of education, the first duty of a teacher is 
that of a drill-master. His efficiency does not depend so much upon the 
knowledge he imparts as upon the habits he induces. But there is dan¬ 
ger of extreme habituation. No mere machine, however perfect, can 
perform the functions of a man. As the mechanical theory of mental 
action fails to account for the whole of the psychical life, so the mechan¬ 
ical theory of training fails to produce an educated mind. Therefore, 
while the teacher should endeavor to aid the learner in forming proper 
habits, and thus render certain actions as nearly as possible automatic, 
he should not forget that by this very process the power of self-direction 
is liberated for new adaptations, and this power should be guided along 
the path of progress.— Hill's Psychology. 





HABIT IN EDUCATION 


113 


and mechanical. That is, we are not conscious 
of the successive processes involved in an act. 
Thus it is clear that habit tends to make not 
only physical life, but also soul life, mechanical. 
The will decides, and habit accelerates the exe¬ 
cution. The process, once begun, goes on of it¬ 
self. Habit thus relieves the mind of the burden 
of surveilance, and leaves it free for higher ac¬ 
tivities. In short, life itself is the sum of one’s 
habits. Standing depends upon character ; char¬ 
acter, upon habits. A man’s personal habits of¬ 
ten determine his social standing. Cleanliness 
usually carries with it order and deference ; un¬ 
cleanliness, disorder and disrespect. Prompt¬ 
ness usually carries with it honor and truthful¬ 
ness. 



The nature of education is determined by the nature of mind— 
that it can develop what it is in itself only by its own activity. 
Mind is in itself free; but, if it does not actualize this possibility, 
it is in no true sense free, either for itself or for another. Edu¬ 
cation is the influencing of man by man, and it has for its end 
to lead him to actualize himself through his own efforts. The 
attainment of perfect manhood as the actualization of the free¬ 
dom essential to mind constitutes the nature of education in gen¬ 
eral. — Rosenkranz. 


CHAPTER IX. 


METHOD IN EDUCATION. 


A clear conception of the functions of a school 
is necessary to a proper adjustment of its work. 
The office of elementary schools is neither mas¬ 
tery nor information, but habits and discipline. 
Instruction can only unfold; it cannot create. 

The first duty of the school is to teach child¬ 
ren to think, and the second is to discipline them 
in methods and habits which develop moral char¬ 
acter. These are the highest functions of the 
school. If character concerns this life only, 
every lesson in school should carry with it a pos¬ 
itive moral influence. Right methods never per¬ 
mit a pupil to run to waste; they save what he 
has, and help him to add to it. Method may be 
a hindrance or a help, as nature always censures 




116 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


or compliments. It may depress and enslave, or 
inspire and liberate ; it is the mother of habit. 
Method should encourage individuality.* The 
personality of every child is entitled to supreme 
regard; it is his capital stock, it is he. Pupils 
cannot be made over ; they can only be directed. 
Method cannot be described nor copyrighted. 
It is a compliment to few for the benefit of many. 
The tact and talent which can govern and teach 
are not found in every family. Method is self; 
it is the man. The teacher is the method, for 
he is always more personal than any method. 
Sound method vitalizes the moral and intellectual 
nature of pupils. Instruction which merely im¬ 
parts information does not habituate the pupil. 
Mere learning has no power to establish habits 
or to mold character. A man may have his head 


* The condition of the learner should not he one of passive reception, but 
of earnest self-exertion. One trial of strength should induce other trials; 
one difficulty overcome should excite an ambition to triumph over other 
difficulties. The teacher should create interest in study, incite curiosity, 
promote inquiry, prompt investigation, inspire self confidence, give hints, 
make suggestions, tempt pupils on to try their strength and test their 
skill.— J. P. Wickersham. 




METHOD IN EDUCATION. 


117 


so full of books that his brain cannot work. In¬ 
formation is a good thing, but thought-power 
is a better thing. We must not mistake book 
learning for thought-power. * Intellectuality 
is a condition of the mind, not merely an accumu¬ 
lation of facts. One may be learned, yet intel¬ 
lectually a bankrupt. 

For convenience of treatment, this chapter is 
divided into five parts, viz .: Purpose, Knowl¬ 
edge, Definiteness, Detail, and Interest. 

Purpose. —Purpose is aggressive. An ideal 
teacher is a leader. No man can be a mere fol- 


* That education is best, not which imparts the greatest amount of 
knowledge, but which devolops the greatest amount of mental force. 
The educational value of the acquisition of knowledge is to improve the 
natural powers of thought and judgment, and to enable the learner to 
deal with the masses of observed facts which press more and more heavily 
on us as we have to move amid the complications of mature life. In ac¬ 
quiring knowledge the mind is naturally active, and not merely passive. 
The active element is most precious, and modern education often tends 
to strangle it. Yet instruction which does not add increased energy to 
the thinking powers is failing its purpose. Learning cannot be free 
from drudgery, and a great deal of the process of teaching and learning— 
say what you will—must be a tax on patience and endurance; neither 
can we entirely dispense with the mere mechanical exercise of the mem¬ 
ory; but if the method pursued is correct, the drudgery ends in an in¬ 
crease of the energy of the mind, and a desire and a power to advance to 
new knowledge and discovery.— T. G. Hooper. 






118 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


lower and succeed. Success is the child of per¬ 
sonal power. Principles are universal in their 
application, but the manner of applying them is 
a personal success or a personal failure. Intelli¬ 
gent and unselfish purpose is the essential ele¬ 
ment of method. Purpose solves most difficul¬ 
ties, and kind nature does the rest. No amount 
of text-book knowledge can ever fill pupils w T ith 
a zeal for learning, if purpose is wanting in the 
teacher. Enthusiasm—the enthusiasm of per¬ 
sonal conviction—is the mother of lasting: im- 
pressions. The quality of the work done, rather 
than the quantity, determines the value of the 
opportunity. To dream in school is to put the 
school to sleep. Negative people cannot lead 
others. It is not only what is done, but how it 
is done, that develops mental power, and relates 
knowledge. As an art, instruction aims at the 
realization of particular ends—the understanding 
or mastery of certain subjects. 

Knowledge. —Knowledge is an absolute need. 
“ What thou dost not know, thou canst not tell.” 



METHOD IN EDUCATION. 


119 


The mere ability to teach the branches required 
by law does not equip one for the school-room. 
Children need teachers of culture, to inspire them 
with right motives and correct principles. 
Teaching divorced from ample knowledge of the 
subject is always barren of satisfactory results. 
Mastery of a subject naturally suggests the 
proper method of teaching it. Scanty informa¬ 
tion makes a teacher timid and uncertain, hence 
not an inspirer. The greatest outcomes of 
method are inspiration and thought-power, not 
mere learning. To feel, to think—these outrank 
learning. 

DEFINITENESS. —I believe in keeping a definite 
object constantly before the pupil. Want of di¬ 
rectness of method is loss of energy; hence the 
teacher should keep constantly before the pupil 
the purpose of the lesson. Concentration not 
only creates interest, but maintains it. Nothing 
is more encouraging than results. The business 
of the school is drill until proper habits of study 
are firmly fixed. Teaching, like the rays of light 



120 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


which pass through a convex lens, should con¬ 
verge to a point. Shoot with a rifle ; the shot¬ 
gun is the weapon of a wanderer. By anticipat¬ 
ing too much, we get too little. The school is a 
place where pupils should be required to exhibit 
themselves. It is the teacher’s duty to direct, 
the pupil’s to do. Do not talk your school to 
death. Some teachers grow into the talking 
habit, and the habit unconsciously enlarges until 
they become talking machines. Pupils soon learn 
the habits of a teacher, and act accordingly. If 
a large portion of the recitation-time is used by 
the teacher in airing his knowledge of a subject, 
the pupils are licensed to idleness during study 
hours. 

Details. —Avoid the excessive detail of our 
school books. Seek to teach the thing; the ex¬ 
ceptions will take care of themselves. Concen¬ 
tration upon essential facts and principles will 
establish habits of study far more valuable and 
lasting than memory recitations of mere detail. 
There is little soul food in detail of any kind. 




METHOD IN EDUCATION 


121 


Life is too short to spend a large part of it upon 
the non-essentials. Since a large percentage of 
text-book facts learned in school are forgotten 
within a year after the pupil quits the school, it is 
clear that a school is only a means to an end. 
No one is a fit leader whose life is absorbed in 
discussing the difference between ‘ ‘ tweedle-dum 
and tweedle-dee. ” Teachers should recognize 
the educational value of the general truth that 
“The letter killeth, but the spirit maketli alive.” 
It is the detail of the professional theorists 
which not only confuses the man of affairs, but 
which makes the simple mysterious.* 

If much of the time spent in the usual routine 
studies were spent upon the elements of the nat¬ 
ural sciences, children would leave school with a 
greater love for knowledge and a greater rever¬ 
ence for God. The great truths of history, sci¬ 
ence, politics, and Christianity are the forms of 
learning which give meaning to life. It is safe 


* Details are always melancholy and should be left to the imagination 
of the reader.— Emerson. 




122 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


to say that half the pupil’s time is often wasted 
in a useless drill upon details. To this sad fact 
add the wasteage that comes from defective 
methods, inexperience, and changes of teachers, 
and we have a glimpse of the true conditions of 
our schools. We will then see the need of train¬ 
ing schools and higher ideals. 

A review of our own lives would afford each of 
us a valuable lesson in pedagogics. Only lead¬ 
ing events would come up before us in the re¬ 
view, the minor ones having been long since for¬ 
gotten. Not one event in a hundred could be 
called up, and not one in a hundred would have 
any meaning if it were remembered. We cannot 
claim that it is necessary to study minor detail 
as a means of discipline, for the wisest and 
greatest have died with only an imperfect knowl¬ 
edge of the leading events of the world, or of the 
mysteries of nature. But we cannot hope for 
much improvement till the teachers are trained 
in methods. So long as the great majority of 
teachers are untrained we shall teach books, 



METHOD IN EDUCATION 


123 


rather than subjects. The need of the teacher 
is training in methods; of the pupil, drilling in 
the essentials ; of the parent, a fuller apprecia¬ 
tion of the value of education. 

INTEREST. —Interest is the beginning of pro¬ 
gress. Without interest on the part of the pu¬ 
pil, instruction is almost fruitless. Interest de¬ 
pends on relating the present to the past—the 
subject under consideration to those that have 
been studied. Every lesson should have a marked 
relation to the preceding lesson ; every subject 
to the preceding subject. The mind is not inter¬ 
ested in the isolated or the meaningless. * Inter- 

*One great art in teaching is the art of finding links and connections 
between isolated facts, and of making the child see that what seems quite 
new is an extension of what is already in his mind.— T. G. Hooper. 

Detached facts on miscellaneous subjects, as they are taught at a mod¬ 
ern school, are like separate letters of endless alphabets. You may load 
the mechanical memory with them till it becomes a marvel of retentive¬ 
ness. Your young prodigy may amaze examiners and delight inspectors. 
His achievements may be emblazoned in blue books, and furnish matter 
for flattering reports on the excellence of our educational system; and 
all this while you have been feeding him with chips of granite. But 
arrange your letters into words, and each becomes a thought, a sym¬ 
bol waking in the mind an image of a real thing. Group your words 
into sentences, and thought is married to thought and produces other 
thoughts, and the chips of granite become soft bread, wholesome, 
nutritious, and invigorating.— J. A. Froude. 






124 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS . 


est is a real thing; it cannot be created mechan¬ 
ically. Inspiration is not a mechanical product. 
Interest in school studies can be awakened only 
by knowing the past and its relation to the pres¬ 
ent. The laws of association suggest method 
in presenting text-book matter to pupils. The 
proper application of the principles of reproduc¬ 
tion and association would not only save half the 
time now wasted in our schools for the want of 
a knowledge of right methods, but it would 
transform many present asylums for the op¬ 
pressed into pleasant homes for the inquiring. 
It would change the pessimistic “crammers” 
into optimistic leaders. Conscious success in 
school work depends upon a knowledge of the 
laws which govern the growth of mind. 

Without interest and application on the part 
of the learner, instruction avails but little. The 
pupil must study. The mind develops its power, 
creates its wealth. Teachers, universities, and 
libraries cannot educate a student. He must ed¬ 
ucate himself. Culture is not a gift, but an 




METHOD IN EDUCATION. 


125 


acquisition. Even teachers of culture, experi¬ 
ence, and tact can only arouse, stimulate, and 
suggest. The pupil must do the studying, and 
the sooner he learns this fact the better.* The 
value of instruction depends upon the character 
of the habits it establishes, more than upon the 
facts learned. If pupils do not love to study, it 
may not be their fault. If they are not inter¬ 
ested, a cause may be found in the teacher, the 
method, or the matter. I do not believe the aver¬ 
age pupil is either silly or lazy. School waste is 
due not so much to the natural indisposition of pu¬ 
pils to study, nor to their incapacity to drink in 
knowledge, as to the methods of instruction. 


* The teacher should never do for the child what it can do for itself. It 
is the child’s own activity that will give strength to its powers and in¬ 
crease the capacity of the mind. The teacher must avoid telling too 
much or aiding the child too frequently. A mere hint or suggestive 
question, to lead the mind in the proper direction, is worth much more 
than direct assistance, for it not only gives activity and consequently 
mental development, but cultivates the power of original investigation.— 
Edward Brooks. 




Man is the only fit subject for education. We often speak, it 
is true, of the education of plants and animals; but even when 
we do so, we apply other expressions, as “ raising,” “ breaking,” 
“breeding,” and “ training,” in order to distinguish it from the 
education of man. “ Training” consists in producing in an ani¬ 
mal, either by pain or pleasure of the senses, an activity of which, 
it is true, he is capable, but which he never would have devel¬ 
oped if left to himself. On the other hand, it is the nature of 
education only to assist in the producing of that which the sub¬ 
ject would strive most earnestly to develop for himself if he had 
a clear idea of himself. We speak of raising trees and animals, 
but not of raising men ; and it is only a planter who looks to his 
slaves for an increase in their number.— Rosenkranz. 


v 


CHAPTER X. 


METHOD IN EDUCATION.—CONCLUDED. 


Pupils are not interested in mere words. In¬ 
terest depends upon suggestion. The soul is a 
real thing; its longings cannot be satisfied with 
the dress of thought; it requires ideas to sug¬ 
gest ideas. The old a , b, c , method of teaching 
the names of the letters is an illustration of the 
meaningless in teaching. The present method 
of teaching spelling in many schools is akin to 
the old method of teaching the names of the let¬ 
ters. How does the oral spelling of long lists of 
words whose meanings the pupils do not know, 
interest them? How does remembering them 
enrich their vocabularies ? How does such in¬ 
struction awaken soul-life ? How does it de¬ 
velop intellect or feeling? Why should pupils 




128 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS . 


who spell correctly the whole list be marked 
100 ? Will some formalist answer ? 

Interest depends upon interpretation. How 
does merely calling the words of a reading les¬ 
son, primary or advanced, interest pupils ? 
Words are not ideas. The mind is not inter¬ 
ested in automatic action—its pleasure is found 
in its own activity. Why should our higher 
readers be scrap-books ? My ideal reader is a 
small book of complete selections. Each se¬ 
lection should be studied until mastered. It 
should then be studied for composition work. 
Such study of reading lessons will create an ap¬ 
petite for literature; it will create ideals, and 
mould character. 

Pupils do not study arithmetic six or eight 
years to learn arithmetic, but to learn to think. 
All the arithmetic nine men in ten ever need can 
be learned in a short time. Why should we 
teach fractions and percentage by cases ? Why 
not learn the nature of a subject, then treat it as 
a unit ? How does the study of arithmetic by 





METHOD IN EDUCATION 


129 


rules and cases interest pupils or lead them to 
rely upon their own reason ? How does such a 
study of arithmetic qualify them for business? 
How does “ciphering” for answers and “per 
cents” lead to independent thinking? How does 
merely believing the statements of others upon 
any subject at any period of life create interest, 
enthusiasm, or purpose? There are too many 
arithmetics, and generally there is too much mat¬ 
ter in a book. Two small arithmetics of one 
hundred and fifty pages each should cover the 
needs of common schools, graded and ungraded.* 
The ideal arithmetics would contain no cases, 
rules or answers. Cases and rules—formal di¬ 
visions and formal directions—discourage think- 

*The first great reduction should, I believe, be made in arithmetic. I 
find that it is very common in programmes of the grades to allot to arith¬ 
metic from one-eighth to one-sixth of the whole school time for nine or 
ten years. In many towns and cities two arithmetics are used during 
these years; a small one of perhaps one hundred pages, followed by a larger 
one of two or three hundred pages. Now the small book usually contains 
all the arithmetic that anybody needs to know; indeed, much more than 
most of us ever use. On grounds of utility, geometry and physics have 
stronger claims than any part of arithmetic beyond the elements, and for 
mental training they are also to be preferred. By the contraction of 
arithmetic, room is made for algebra and geometry.— Pres’t Eliot , Har¬ 
vard University. 




130 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


ing. Pupils do not need specific directions so 
much as suggestion. Rules do not yield under¬ 
standing. Direction is poor inspiration. 

Suggestion.- —Substitute elementary algebra 
for higher arithmetic. It is not so difficult, and 
is better adapted to training the reason. It is 
higher arithmetic in symbollic characters. The 
“puzzles” of higher arithmetic yield readily to 
algebraic solutions, thus saving the pupil’s time 
and energy for other studies. The study would 
interest, because it deals in general notions; it 
establishes general truths. 

How does parsing words in English interest 
pupils ? Relations seldom depend upon the form 
of a word. Prepositions show relation in En¬ 
glish. The verb has but one change of form 
to express a change of number and person, 
and but one to indicate a change of tense. 
There is not a noun in the English language 
which has a case-form different from the nomi¬ 
native, if we regard the possessive form as a 
possessive adjective. The different forms of the 




METHOD IN EDUCATION 


131 


pronoun can be learned in an hour. Declension 
and conjugation do not interest pupils, because 
they have almost no application. Mere routine 
does not interest at any age. How does the 
making of diagrams assist pupils in comprehend¬ 
ing the meaning of a sentence or in seeing the 
relations of the grammatical elements, when the 
concept must be in the mind before it can be 
placed upon the blackboard ? At best, it is but 
a means of instruction for the teacher. 

Parsing and analysis, limited to a month or 
two in a life-time, may serve us indirectly; the 
former by way of fixing what little we have of in¬ 
flection and form, the latter by way of exhibiting 
the structure of sentences. But why should we 
repeat a hundred or more times in a year : ‘ ‘ John 

is a proper noun, third person, singular number?’’ 
and ‘ ‘ This is a simple, declarative sentence ; the 

subject is-, the predicate is-.” Do these 

formalities require thought? Do they enrich 
the soul ? Formal analysis, whether oral or 
written, has but litle value in English. Sepa- 





132 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


rating the thoughts of others into arbitrary 
grammatical elements cannot long interest pu¬ 
pils. It is too mechanical, too bookish. As the 
English language has but little of formal order, 
formal analysis is valuable only to the extent 
that it helps the pupil to determine the meaning 
of the sentence. Analysis is not an end but a 
means to an end. As the English language is 
almost barren of inflection, it has little for the 
pupil to commit to memory; hence little time 
should be spent in reciting definitions, declining 
nouns, conjugating verbs, and analyzing sen¬ 
tences. Very much of the time spent in such 
work is wasted. The teacher of English is 
young in years, if not in thought-power, who 
does not see this truth. 

Pupils do not study grammar to learn to parse 
words and analyze sentences, but to learn to ex¬ 
press thought. The ability to speak and write 
English with accuracy and effectiveness is the 
only true measure of a practical knowledge of 
English grammar. Teachers should remember 



METHOD IN EDUCATION 


133 


that any method of teaching English which does 
not enable a pupil to express his ideas clearly 
and forcibly is a failure. In primary language- 
work, a large portion of the time is generally 
wasted in routine. It is routine drill in detail 
that robs the pupil of inspiration, opportunity, 
and purpose. Interest in the study of language 
is proportional to the thought-content of the ex¬ 
ercises. The pupil must think into habitual use 
grammatical forms and relations, if they are to 
have a lasting value. 

In teaching English, why should we not recog¬ 
nize the fact that it is comparatively an unin¬ 
flected, formless language ? How limited the in¬ 
flection of nouns, verbs, and adjectives, compared 
with the same parts of speech in Latin ! In En¬ 
glish, changes in form to denote changes in 
meaning are few and simple. All there is of 
true English inflection in nouns, verbs, and ad¬ 
jectives, could be learned in a week. The Latin 
has many case-forms ; the English has separate 
words, specific for each person and number. In 



134 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS . 


English, the verb seldom changes its ending to 
denote person, number, mode, or tense; the use 
of a word seldom depends upon its form, but 
generally upon its relation to other words. The 
part of speech to which a word belongs cannot 
be determined at sight, but by its use. The 
same form of a word may do the work of several 
parts of speech. Thus, in English, memory is 
subordinate to reason. 

These organic differences show that it is ab¬ 
surd to apply the methods of the dead classics to 
the living English. As there is but little of inflec¬ 
tion in English, pupils should be put to making 
sentences as soon as they can write their names. 
We should have them express in writing the lead¬ 
ing facts in their reading, history, and geography 
lessons. The exercise is not only an admirable 
training in language, but greatly assists in re¬ 
membering the facts themselves. If much of the 
time now spent in the formal work of declining 
nouns, conjugating verbs, and comparing adjec¬ 
tives and adverbs were spent in a careful study 



METHOD IN EDUCATION 


135 


of the meaning of the auxiliary verbs, it would 
yield much better results than it does. If much 
of the time now spent in analyzing and making 
diagrams of sentences were spent in giving the 
principal parts of the irregular verbs, we should 
soon hear purer language on our streets and in 
our homes. 

The English language is so free from inflec¬ 
tional endings and formal order that it requires 
but little time to master its few grammatical 
facts. A few weeks of practice in writing En¬ 
glish under the instruction of a competent teacher 
should put a pupil well on his way to a mastery 
of its use by his own efforts. We owe a debt of 
gratitude to the idol-breakers who are working 
out rational methods of teaching our mother- 
tongue. But the debt of the teachers is little 
when compared with what the pupils owe those 
who have saved them from the stupid routine of 
the formalist. 

In English, the needs of the pupil suggest the 
method. It is the use of language which inter- 



136 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


ests the pupil, not its grammar. It matters not 
to the learner whether we have three or four 
modes, if he uses the language clearly and forci¬ 
bly. In the study of language, especially the 
English, theory without practice has little or no 
value. The experience of every thoughtful 
teacher testifies to the foolishness of memory- 
stuffing in teaching English. In compelling 
children to memorize rules they do not under¬ 
stand, you make them slaves to mere form. The 
ability to quote a grammar from the title page 
to the end would in no way improve the speech 
of the unthinking. The recitation of grammati¬ 
cal facts will no more make correct speakers and 
writers than the recitation of moral maxims will 
make good citizens. 

The primary object of the study of grammar 
is to learn the logic of expression. There is 
nothing inspiring in the mere ability to parse 
words, analyze sentences, and “pick out” gram¬ 
matical inaccuracies. Language is a means of 
expressing thought, and its correct use can be 



METHOD IN EDUCATION 


137 


acquired only by using it in the expression of 
thought; no amount of blank-filling and sentence¬ 
patching can materially benefit children. * Tink¬ 
ering sentences yields little or nothing because it 
requires little or nothing. Mere formalism asks 
but little and is content with less. Much of what 
is called method in primary language work is 
merely a cheap device to amuse pupils and to 
disgust them with their mother-tongue. 

We learn to use good English by the reflective 


*True ease in writing comes from art, not chance, 

As those move easiest who have learned to dance.— Pope. 

Write, write, write, there is no way to learn to write, except by writ¬ 
ing.— Emerson. 

Buies and concords no more condition clear expression than they de¬ 
termine forcible thinking; you may parse a boy through “The Course 
of Time” and “ Paradise Lost” without eliciting a spark of feeling or a 
glint of intelligence.— Prof. Woodivard , Wofford College. 

A parrot-like knowledge of inflection and rules has ceased to be the 
goal of linguistic scholarship, and so far as any useful end is concerned, 
the mere ability to parse and analyze an intricate sentence counts for 
little.— Prof. Huff cut, Cornell University. 

It is constant use and practice that makes good speakers and writers; 
no one ever changed from a bad speaker to a good one by applying the 
rules of grammar to what he said; in order to use English correctly it is 
not necessary to study English grammar, but the study of grammar is use¬ 
ful to us because it helps and hastens the process of learning good En¬ 
glish.— Prof. Whitney, Yale College. 




138 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


use of it, and in no other way. Ease in writing 
conies from writing, not from the study of 
books. Correctness and vigor of expression can 
be acquired in one way only—by becoming famil¬ 
iar with the structure and the use of the sen¬ 
tence. Bad practices are dislodged only by a 
reflective use of words. What effect, if any, 
have rules upon the speech of the boy whose 
companions constantly violate the laws of good 
usage? Experience says that cautions and rules 
do not yield culture nor character. 

Grammar is a science or it is nothing. Its 
difficulties grow out of its scientific nature. It 
is an interesting and profitable study to those 
who have acquired a “somewhat reflective use 
of language,” but means nothing to those who 
have not. The proper study of English has a 
disciplinary value second to no other study, but 
soulless formalism has no power to develop 
thought or to mould character. 

Suggestion. —In place of the so-called practi¬ 
cal grammar in the lower grades, substitute 



METHOD IN EDUCATION. 


139 


a first book in natural history. This subject 
will interest pupils of those grades, because it 
treats of living realities within the limits of 
their experiences. It will interest because it is 
a study of the living concrete. 

Pupils do not study geography to learn to lo¬ 
cate hills, rills, villages, and towns, but to learn 
how God has adapted the earth to the needs of 
man—a thing little discussed in the school-room. 
The superlative merit of the present method of 
teaching geography in most schools is the fact 
that nine-tenths of the cold, isolated facts, 
stuffed into the minds of the pupil, are forgotten 
before the close of the term.* Unfortunate, in¬ 
deed, is the pupil who can remember them. The 
area of the leading countries, the principal occu¬ 
pations and resources of the people, the location of 
the most important cities, rivers, and mountains 

* Geography is now taught chiefly as a memory study, from books and 
flat atlases, and much time is given to committing to memory masses of 
facts which cannot be retained, and which are of little value if retained. 
By grouping physical geography with natural history, and by providing 
proper apparatus for teaching geography, time can be saved and yet a 
place made for much new and interesting geographical instruction.— 
Pres’t Eliot, Harvard University. 






140 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


should constitute the essentials of school geogra¬ 
phy. Mathematical geography is quite neglected 
to hunt up unimportant streams and villages. 

How does locating small islands, towns, lakes, 
rivers, and mountains lead pupils to see how 
wonderfully God, the Creator, has prepared the 
earth for the needs of man? How does bounding 
states develop reason, feeling, or imagination? 
Teaching geography should be something more 
than a mere recitation of text-book facts. 
Through the use of descriptive words, pictures, 
and maps, the pupil should create mental images 
of the surface of the country. He should fix the 
ideal pictures in his mind through imaginary 
journeys. No other study in the common school 
course requires so much of the imagination; no 
other has a more vivid meaning to the pupil if it 
is properly taught. 

- Suggestion. —Enrich the course in geography 
by shortening it. Omit the greater part of mere 
“place” geography. Enrich the contents by 
giving more attention to the growth and influ- 



METHOD IN EDUCATION. 


141 


ence of the great commercial centers. Enrich 
the subject by giving more attention to the effect 
which oceans and mountains have upon climate, 
occupation, commerce, and character. We have 
too much “book” geography. For the so-called 
advanced geography, substitute elementary phys¬ 
ics and physical geography. The elementary 
principles of philosophy are easily understood by 
pupils of thirteen years. These are interesting 
to pupils, because they come within their daily 
observation and experience, and because they 
have meaning. 

Pupils do not study history to acquire mere 
names and dates, but to learn causes and effects. 
The truths of lasting importance are those which 
relate the causes of events, and which establish 
policies. The fewer the heroes and the scarcer 
the unimportant dates, the better. Why should 
we teach the wars by years? The War of the 
Revolution, like the Civil War, is a unit in Amer¬ 
ican history, and should be studied as a whole. 
Do we not lose sight of the principles for which 



142 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


we fought in our search after dates and years? 
The detail of events may be truly stated, but it 
may be of no importance. Is the opportunity of 
school life so extended that pupils can spend a 
year or more upon United States history? 

How does reciting dates and names in the study 
of history develop moral character—the chief aim 
of the study? It matters little on what particular 
dates battles were fought, or what particular 
generals commanded the armies. Names and 
dates are for newspaper offices, and can always 
be found in cyclopedias. It is little short of 
barbarous to cram the minds of pupils with the 
dates of second and third class battles, and the 
names of undistinguished generals who com¬ 
manded them. It is little short of criminal to 
require pupils to commit the text of primary his¬ 
tories, but this is still done in many schools. 

A little reflection will convince the teacher yet 
in his “teens,” that minor events cannot interest 
pupils nor impress upon them the lesson which 
history teaches. Instruction should strengthen, 



METHOD IN EDUCATION. 


143 


deepen, and nourish. It should have meaning. 
History should be taught topically, seventy-five 
per cent of the commonly recorded names and 
dates being omitted. The causes of the wars, 
the principles fought for, and the victories won 
should be understood. The characters of the 
leading men should be studied—this is history. 
A study of the motives which led to the wars is 
a study of ideal men. In such a study of the his¬ 
tory of the United States, pupils are interested. 
It is a study of realities; it associates principles, 
struggles, victories. 

If we would have greater interest and better 
results, we must eliminate unimportant matter 
in the text-books, and master the essentials. It 
is safe to assert that much time is spent upon 
valueless detail and routine drill—upon matter 
which neither informs nor educates. But our 
schools are better than they were twenty-five 
years ago. Defects must be seen before they can 
be remedied; waste must be discovered before it 
can be prevented. Discussion is the need. 





The teacher should thoroughly understand what he attempts 
to teach. It is destructive of all life in the exercise, if the 
teacher is constantly chained down to the text-book. I have no 
objection, indeed, that he should take his text-book with him to 
the class, and that he should occasionally refer to it to refresh 
his own memory or to settle a doubt. But who does not know 
that a teacher who is perfectly familiar with what is to be taught, 
has ten times the vivacity of one who is obliged to follow the 
very letter of the book ? His own enthusiasm glows in his coun¬ 
tenance, sparkles in his eye, and leaps from his tongue. He 
watches the halting of the pupil, perceives his difficulty, devises 
his expedient for illustrating the dark point in some new way, 
and, at the proper moment, renders just the amount of assistance 
which the pupil needs. Not confined to the text, he has the use 
of his eyes; and when he speaks or explains, he can accompany 
his remark with a quickening look of intelligence. In this way 
his class is enlivened. They respect him for his ready attain¬ 
ment, and they are fired with a desire to be his equal.— Page. 


CHAPTER XI. 


THE RECITATION. 

The recitation is the heart of school-life. It is 
the test of a teacher’s fitness, and of a pupil’s 
purpose. The recitation, directly and indirectly, 
is the moral force of the school. It appeals di¬ 
rectly to a pupil’s individuality. Lost, indeed, 
to all other means is the pupil who cannot, and 
who does not, find the recitation the most inspir¬ 
ing and helpful school association. Every reci¬ 
tation should begin with a review of the preced¬ 
ing lesson that the pupil may see that the new 
lesson is but a continuation of the preceding one. 

A recitation may be divided into three parts, 
viz .: Responsive Recitation, Voluntary 
Recitation, Questioning Recitation. 
Responsive Recitation, —When the class is 


146 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


seated for recitation, the teacher should take his 
place directly in front of the pupils, stand 
squarely upon his feet, without a text-book, and 
ask one of the class to name the subject of the 
lesson. Then he should call upon “John” or 
“Mary” to recite. He should merely say “John” 
or “Mary,” but one word, w;hereupon “John” or 
“Mary” rises, stands erect, recites, and quietly 
takes a seat. 

Limit a pupil to a single statement, that all 
may take part in the recitation. If the state¬ 
ment or illustration is made in a careless or in¬ 
different manner, or in slovenly English, let the 
teacher say, simply, “again,” and see that the 
second attempt is better than the first. Just the 
little word “again ; ” it is not necessary for the 
teacher to say, “John, you may try that again.” 
Let him save five words and the noise and time 
required to use them. The little word “again” 
will do more for a pupil than a professional lec¬ 
ture. It is as applicable in a primary as in a 
higher grade—in a country school as in a town 



THE RECITATION. 


147 


school. Every recitation should be made more 
than a recital of text-book facts. It should be 
made a lesson in training more than the memory. 
It should be made a language lesson. 

In this way the teacher may call upon all of 
the class, if necessary, to cover the matter of the 
text. He should call the given name. The pu¬ 
pil should rise, define a term, give an illustra¬ 
tion, or make a statement, and sit down. When 
on his feet, he should stand until he recites or 
until he fully excuses himself. The teacher 
should not help him to recite, nor give suggestive 
hints in the form of helpful questions. The pu¬ 
pil must understand that “Life is real, life is 
earnest, ” and that there is no easy place in school- 
work, or anywhere else. 

Voluntary Recitation. —This division of 
the recitation privileges a pupil to volunteer ad¬ 
ditional statements or illustrations. A volun¬ 
teer may be known by holding up his right hand. 
Try to give to all an opportunity to volunteer. 
The teacher should permit no one pupil to mo- 



148 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS . 


nopolize the hour, nor permit any one to use a 
hundred words to tell what he should express in 
twenty-five. The liberal use of the little word 
“again” will soon cure class verbosity, and will 
do more toward the acquisition of good English 
than the study of formal rhetoric in later years. 
Require and accept only correct and concise 
statements. Accuracy of statement is more val¬ 
uable than accuracy of result.* Clearness and 
brevity of statement show that the lesson has 
been studied. A reflective use of words in the 
expression of original thought gives more of hope 


* It is a common mistake to make the acquisition of knowledge the 
chief end of school training, and this is followed by the mistake of mak¬ 
ing knowledge, often the verbal expression of knowledge, the measure 
and test of teaching. This results in cramming. It must ever be kept 
in mind that the chief intellectual end of teaching is mental power— 
power to acquire, power to express, power to apply knowledge—and that 
the proper test of mental power is mental action. A clear grasp of this 
principle makes teaching an art—the art of training.— Dr. E. E. White. 

Without doubt, the best system of teaching, like the best logic, is still 
that which we make for ourselves through study, experience, and per¬ 
sonal reflection. Certainly, it is not required to have learned by heart 
and recited, as some anthers of teachers’ manuals still demand, a cate¬ 
chism of method; but in order to aid the reflection and guide the expe¬ 
rience of each novice in instruction, the book is very far from being use¬ 
less, though it do nothing more than stimulate personal reflection,— C<m- 
payre'. 




THE RECITATION. 


149 


than the “parrot-like” recitations of the sub- 
limest thoughts of others. 

Questioning Recitation.— Let the teacher 
put questions to the class as a class, and allow 
a moment for reflection, then call upon “John” 
or “Mary” to answer. He should require an 
immediate and complete answer. A pupil should 
never be permitted to learn the lesson after com¬ 
ing to the class. Definitions and principles 
should be clearly stated and amply illustrated. 
Without illustration, teachers do not know 
whether a “parrot” or a real pupil has recited. 
Teachers should insist upon illustrations that il¬ 
lustrate. They should require an exhibition of 
the pupil’s power to reason, rather than of his 
ability to remember. They should not require 
pupils to give definitions and rules in the lan¬ 
guage of the text-book, but in their own lan¬ 
guage. Words are only signs of ideas. If the 
pupil has the idea, he will find the words. Pu¬ 
pils do not go to school to memorize the words 
of others, but to learn to express original thought. 




150 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


The recitation is not an end, but the means to 
an end. 

Pupils should not be permitted to refer to their 
text-books during the recitation, nor should the 
teacher be dependent upon one. If a pupil can 
not recite without referring to the text-book, he 
is not prepared ; if the teacher requires the book, 
he does not know the subject. If the recitation 
is only a test of what a pupil'remembers of his 
lesson, it is a failure; if it is only a test of the 
teacher’s knowledge of the subject as given in 
the book in use, the teacher is incompetent. A 
text-book is merely an outline, and some text¬ 
books are poor outlines. 

The recitation of text-book facts is not a sig¬ 
nificant performance. Without earnestness of 
purpose, a teacher cannot lead; without the abil¬ 
ity to lead, he is hardly helpful. If a pupil’s at¬ 
tention is to be held, he must be interested, not 
merely made to recite. If the recitation does 
not mean investigation, it is a formal farce. If 
it is an opportunity for the teacher to sit in his 



THE RECITATION. 


151 


chair, cull out questions from the book, and look 
wise, it is merely a sickly burlesque.* If it af¬ 
fords the teacher an opportunity to exploit fa¬ 
vorite pupils or to exhibit bright ones, it is not 
an ideal recitation. If it does not reach all of a 
class, especially the dull ones, it falls far short of 
its mission. 

The recitation determines the habits of the 
pupils. If it is exhaustive, the pupils are forced 
to study. It should be a reality, not a mere 

* The didactic method—the method of endless telling—thinking for 
the pupil—ordering him to get his lessons, has had its day.— Payne. 

The primary principle of education is the determination of the pupil 
to self-activity—the doing for him nothing which he can do for himself. 
—Sir William Hamilton. 

Children are not to he taught by rules, which will be always slipping 
out of their memories. What you think it necessary for them to do, set¬ 
tle in them by an indispensable practice.— Locke. 

As a motive for every teacher to study carefully the art of teaching 
well at the recitation, it should be borne in mind that then and there he 
comes before his pupils in a peculiar and prominent manner; it is there 
his mind comes specially in contact with theirs, and there that he lays in 
them, for good or for evil, the foundations of their mental habits. It is 
at the recitation in a peculiar manner, that he makes his mark upon their 
minds; and as the seal upon the wax, so his mental character upon theirs 
leave its impress behind!— Page. 

Cram is the rapid acquisition of a great deal of knowledge. Learning 
so acquired, though useful for a barrister, has less educational value 
than the public believe, for it does not promote but rather tends to destroy 
the active and constructive powers of the mind.— T. G. Rooper. 




152 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


formality. The recitation hour is for the pupil, 
rather than the teacher. Say nothing that you 
can get the class to say. Do nothing that you 
can get the class to do. 

The concert method of hearing a recitation is 
a stupid device, whereby the slower pupils are 
cheated out of all opportunity. It privileges the 
readier pupils to trespass upon the rights of the 
slower ones, and to monopolize the time.* It 
robs the teacher of an opportunity to note the in¬ 
dividual standing of the pupils, and to give such 
needed help as special cases suggest. It masses ; 
method should individualize. 

The topic method seems to present many ad¬ 
vantages over other methods. It requires the 
pupil to arrange systematically the special points 
in the lesson. This fact tends to train him in 


*Kely not too much upon simultaneous recitation. This has become 
quite too fashionable of late. It had its origin in the large schools estab¬ 
lished some years since, known as Lancasterian schools, and perhaps was 
well enough adapted to schools kept upon that plan in large cities. But 
when this mode of reciting is adopted in our district and country schools, 
where the circumstances of large numbers and extreme backwardness are 
wanting, it is entirely uncalled for, and, like other city fashions trans¬ 
ferred to the country, is really out of place.— Page. 




THE RECITATION. 


153 


habits of order. It gives him an opportunity to 
express himself in his own language. It is the 
easiest method for the teacher ; it puts the bur¬ 
den of the recitation upon the pupils, where it 
properly belongs. It gives to the teacher the 
best opportunity to observe the individual habits 
of his pupils. It tends to the concentration of 
the attention, not only of the pupil reciting, but 
of those in their seats. 

But this way of hearing a recitation may not 
be the best for all. There is no universal best 
way of doing anything. Success is original, in¬ 
spiration organic. No two persons succeed in 
the same way ; no two persons look alike, act 
alike, believe alike, live alike, or die alike. 



A well-governed school, in my estimation, is so well poised, 
that is, so self-poised, that in the absence of the teacher, it will 
run on of itself till the nightfall, without noise or friction. Is 
this too much to expect? Fellow-teachers, we can take iron and 
brass and make a watch that will keep time when its owner is 
sound asleep; that will run correctly on for a year. He is a 
poor watchmaker who cannot make one that will run twenty- 
four hours. Can we do more with dead, dumb metal than we 
can with living, loving, throbbing human hearts? Can we ac¬ 
complish more accurate, definite, and reliable results with our 
skilled hands than with our trained minds ? Shall a teacher of 
immortal souls yield to a maker of machinery? Nay, verily.— 
J. Dorman Steele, 



CHAPTER XII. 


THE SCHOOL. 


If we would have a proper estimate of the 
function of a school, we should bear in mind that 
it is not a charitable institution, supported for 
the benefit of those who are temporarily in con¬ 
trol of it as school officers and teachers, but that 
it is a public trust, supported by taxation for the 
sole purpose of educating the children of all the 
people. Free schools are supported by the state 
for the protection of the state. It is now ad¬ 
mitted that the state has both the moral and the 
legal right to protect itself against ignorance, 
and to demand that all its children shall have an 
opportunity to acquire an education. 

A school is an organization whose purpose is 
the education of children. It is a state institu- 




156 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


tion, and should be conducted upon business prin¬ 
ciples. In its management there is, morally, 
no place for sentiment, favoritism, or for the 
needy friends of school officials. The rights of 
children transcend all forms of selfishness and 
the claims of unqualified “home talent.” Home 
is often a very limited opportunity. The school 
should be free from all forms of local and official 
favoritism. If school boards would find qualified 
teachers, they must open the doors of their 
school houses to the competition of qualified 
teachers. 

In connection with the above thoughts, I ap¬ 
pend a few suggestions touching the practical 
workings of a school in the hope that they may 
help some young teacher. 

First, The Programme.— Without a definite 
plan of working, definite results should not be 
expected. In school work, as in all other work, 
“we reap what we sow.” The house-builder 
knows just where every stone or timber should 
be placed, before he begins to build the house; 



THE SCHOOL. 


157 


the train conductor knows just when his train 
should arrive at every station on the railroad, 
before he starts the train. The teacher should 
know just what he is to do each day, before he 
begins the day’s work. He should carefully ar¬ 
range a programme of the daily recitations, as 
soon as possible after the opening of the term. 
Much thought should be given to the arrange¬ 
ment of the classes, and to the time allowed for 
each recitation. The youngest pupils should re¬ 
cite first, in both the forenoon and the afternoon, 
and should recite not less than four times daily. 
The time allotted to a recitation should corres¬ 
pond to the nature of the subject and to the age 
of the pupils, the more advanced classes and the 
older pupils requiring more time than the pri¬ 
mary classes and the younger pupils. When, by 
trial, a daily programme is found satisfactory to 
both pupils and teachers, it should not be changed 
during the term. 

Classes should be called upon to recite at pre¬ 
cisely the moment given in the programme, and 



158 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS . 


should be excused from the recitation at precisely 
the time indicated. Even a “talking teacher” 
should subside when the “time is up.” If the 
teacher permits one class to trespass upon the 
time of another, he disturbs the entire grade, and 
justly subjects himself to criticism. A teacher 
should never violate his own regulations. If he 
would teach promptness, he must be prompt; if 
he would have order, he must be orderly ; if he 
would have his pupils respect his regulations, he 
must respect them himself. The recitation car¬ 
ries with it many opportunities to train pupils in 
habits of order, punctuality, and attention. 

Second, Rules. —The fewer the rules, the 
better the government.* Pupils cannot be gov¬ 
erned by rules, written or unwritten, nor in¬ 
spired by set lectures on the beauty of right con¬ 
duct. Rules may in some degree restrain; 
they cannot govern. There is no virtue in fear, 

*'Now my advice is, make but few rules, and never multiply them till 
circumstances demand it. The rule of right will usually he sufficient 
without any special legislation; and it has this advantage, that it leaves 
the teacher the largest discretion.— Page. 




THE SCHOOL . 


159 


but in love. Love is the controlling force. 
Children are not machines, to be governed by 
some external force, but thinking, feeling, human 
beings, capable of self-government, Good rules 
do not make good pupils, but good pupils make 
good rules. Pupils do not like formal restric¬ 
tions, but informal liberty. Human nature is 
opposed to set regulations. The merely formal 
and external has little or no meaning. Mere 
formalism cannot create feeling nor develop pur¬ 
pose ; it does not reach the soul. 

Many reasons might be given to show why 
schools cannot be governed by fixed rules: (1) 

No set of rules, however skillfully framed, can 
cover all the exigencies of a school. The unex¬ 
pected happens every day in all schools, and must 
be met at the time and in the manner best suited 
to the individual case. (2) A rule without a 
penalty attached to its violation has no moral 
meaning. Experience shows that the same kind 
and the same amount of punishment should not 
always follow the violation of a rule or law, (3) 



160 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


A rule not enforced is a dead letter and a bad 
example. Law should be not only acknowledged ; 
it should be obeyed. It is as much a teacher’s 
duty to demand obedience as it is to teach 
arithmetic. Character is more valuable than 
facts. The teacher should be free not only to 
make the law, but also to fix the punishment. 
The teacher is the law. 

It is well to have a general understanding with 
regard to the manner of entering and leaving the 
school-yard and the school-house; also, with re¬ 
gard to the general deportment of the pupils 
upon the play grounds, and upon their way to 
and from school. With a few general sugges¬ 
tions, the teacher may safely trust the detail of 
the management of the school to the good sense 
of the pupils. Pupils are naturally honorable 
and trustworthy. Pew, indeed, are the pupils 
who cannot be trusted. If teachers would have 
the respect and good will of their pupils, they 
must believe in them. 

Third, Discipline. —Authority to direct and 



THE SCHOOL. 


161 


to control others is derived from the need of 
others. Artificial restraint is necessary until 
children establish good habits under the direc¬ 
tion of those whose duty it is to train them. It 
would not be right for parents and teachers to 
allow children to learn, through personal experi¬ 
ence, the evil effects of all wrong doing. When 
habits of obedience become an element in the 
character of the child, the surveilance of the 
home and the school may be relaxed. 

A school without discipline is like a business 
house without a head. Pupils respect authority 
when it is properly and impartially exercised. 
There is no conflict between personal liberty and 
just restraint—between discipline and kindness. 
The less the formal discipline, the better the or¬ 
der. Punishment should always be in propor¬ 
tion to the transgression ; it should be graduated 
to meet the character of the offense. It is the 
certainty of punishment rather than its severity 
that deters evil doers. The criminal classes 
prefer to operate in those states which have on 



162 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


their statute books the severest penalties for 
criminal offenses, because (as statistics show) 
the chances of acquittal are directly propor¬ 
tional to the severity of the penalty. This fact 
is born of the heart, and is a compliment to the 
progress of civilization. It goes far toward in¬ 
terpreting Christ’s law of love. 

Fourth, Corporal. Punishment. —The dis¬ 
cipline of the school should be maintained, even 
at the cost of corporal punishment or the sus¬ 
pension of the incorrigible pupil. The school 
should be preserved from disorder and the con¬ 
tagion of bad example. But such extreme pen¬ 
alties as corporal punishment and suspension 
should attach only to the worst forms of school 
offenses, and then only as a last resort. It is a 
serious thing to turn an incorrigible boy into the 
street, with the stain of suspension from school 
upon his name. It should never be done if it can 
possibly be avoided. It is generally admitted 
that a forced obedience through corporal punish¬ 
ment is better both for the pupil and the com- 




THE SCHOOL. 


163 


inunity than the suspension of the pupil. But 
pupils cannot be properly governed by brute 
force, nor by the recitation of moral maxims. 
Punishment which has for its object the refor¬ 
mation of the offender is righteous punishment; 
all other punishment is unjustifiable, unrighte¬ 
ous, and revengeful.* Punishment is not a form 
of retaliation. Only a diseased mind could find 
pleasure in undue or infinite punishment. Re¬ 
venge is always destructive, forgiveness crea¬ 
tive. Love is the corrective. 

Fifth, Examinations. —Every properly con¬ 
ducted recitation is an examination, not only of 
the class, but of each member of the class. The 


* Punishment as an educational means is nevertheless essentially cor¬ 
rective, since by leading the youth to a proper estimation of his fault and 
a positive change in his behavior, it seeks to improve him. At the same 
time, it stands as a sad indication of the insufficiency of the means pre¬ 
viously used. The youth should not be frightened from the commission 
of a misdemeanor or from the repetition of his negative deed through 
fear of punishment—a system which leads always to terrorism; but, al¬ 
though this effect may be incidental, the punishment should, before all 
things, impress upon him the recognition of the fact that the negative is 
not allowed to prevail without limitation, but rather that the good and 
the true have the absolute power in this world, and that they are never 
without the means of overcoming anything that contradicts them,— 
Jtosenkranz , 




164 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


regular recitations afford the teacher the only 
real opportunity to know the standing of the in¬ 
dividual members of the class, and the individual 
members the only real measure of their class 
standing. 

Formal examinations are usually oppressive 
and discouraging; formal tests are usually too 
formal and too mechanical. Few persons of any 
age can write out, under fixed limitations, all they 
know; and fewer still, all they feel. At best, 
the formal written examination is more a test of 
the memory than of the reason ; hence it should 
never be made the sole basis of a pupil’s fitness 
for promotion. Formal examinations, oral or 
written, assume an equality of mental and phys¬ 
ical habits never found in any class ; they assume 
an equality of home interest in school work never 
found in any community. They equalize pupils; 
right methods individualize them. They treat 
all alike; hence they are unjust and unfair. 
The grist is equally divided ; the same result ex¬ 
pected. The quick and the slow, the bright and 



THE SCHOOL. 


165 


the dull, the good memory and the poor memory— 
all are massed—all wronged. * 

Pupils differ in capacity, natural and acquired. 
Some pupils think more quickly, memorize more 
easily, and are more self-confident than others. 
But the quickest thinkers, the readiest memo- 
rizers, the most self-confident boys at fifteen are 
not always the profoundest reasoners at thirty. 
The purpose of a life cannot be measured by 
formal results. Mere formalism should never 


*The opportunities of many an American youth have been blasted by 
an examination failure, and this, too, often due to nervous exhaustion. 
More young lives have gone out at the hands of the examination fiend 
than our school records show. It seems high time that our school poli¬ 
cies should recognize the fact that children are not made of putty. 

These narrow and technical promotion tests have been misleading as 
evidence of the actual attainments of pupils. The pupils in our schools 
have reached no such proficiency as the promotion examinations have 
indicated. The number of pupils reported as “ perfect,” or very close to 
perfection, has been marvelous. The vanity and pride of pupils and 
parents, and even of teachers, have not only been unduly flattered, but 
all have been much deceived. 

They have perverted the best efforts of teachers, and narrowed and 
grooved their instruction; they have occasioned and made well nigh im¬ 
perative the use of mechanical and rote methods of teaching; they have 
occasioned cramming and other vicious habits of study; they have caused 
much of the overpressure charged upon the schools, some of which is 
real; they have tempted both teachers and pupils to dishonesty; and, 
last but not least, they have permitted a mechanical method of school su¬ 
pervision.— Dr. E. E. White. 




10(5 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


be accepted as evidence of purpose or character 
in any department of life. 

But the formal, written examination has its 
uses in grammar grades and high schools. It 
furnishes a sort of collateral evidence of a pupil’s 
standing for teachers and parents. If it is not 
made the only test of fitness for promotion, if it 
is not substituted for the more accurate knowl¬ 
edge of the teacher gained from the daily recita¬ 
tions, if it is not required oftener than semi-an¬ 
nually, in short, if not abused, it has a place in 
the higher grades. 

Sixth, Marking Recitations. —At most, a 
teacher’s Cgass Book is a record of guesses. 
Marking recitations is a formal device. It can¬ 
not in any way stimulate a class to greater ef¬ 
fort, nor assist the teacher in conducting a reci¬ 
tation. Why should the teacher guess at a pu¬ 
pil’s class standing four or five times a day? 
The time required to make the hourly entries in 
the “Class Book” is a severe tax upon the time 
set aside for recitations. Once a month is often 



THE SCHOOL . 


1G7 


enough to make a formal guess at a pupil’s class 
standing. * The scholarship as shown in the 
Monthly Report is a sufficient record for pu¬ 
pils and parents. One competent to conduct a 
recitation should always know the character of 
each pupil’s recitation without making a formal 
record of it several times a day. Utter failures, 
or repeated failures, on the part of the same pu¬ 
pil, might be noted, but nothing more. It is a 
teacher’s duty to know his pupils—to know them 
individually. 


*For many years we have had here no marking system, class rank, 
honors, or prizes of any kind, unless the diploma of graduation be deemed 
such. Students have been asked to work for the sake of learning. Of 
course if any were indisposed to work they were sent away; but the ap¬ 
peal has been simply to the desire of the student to train and store his 
mind. 

It is the conviction of those who had previously taught in colleges and 
universities which have the marking system, class rank, honors, and 
prizes, and are now teaching here, that the aggregate result under our 
system is far better. It is possible that in the former institutions a few 
men at the head of each class who are contending for rank attain to 
higher technical excellence in minute details of study; but we hold 
stoutly to the belief that broader, heartier, better work is done by the 
mass of our students than would be done under the other system, and 
that the spirit of study begotten by the simple appeal to study for the 
sake of its attainments and discipline is greatly to be preferred to that 
which is stimulated by the hope of pecuniary reward or class rank.— 
Pres’t Angel , University of Michigan. 




168 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


Seventh, PROMOTIONS. —Whenever a pupil is 
ahead of his class, promote him.* This sugges¬ 
tion does not harmonize with the theory of a 
graded school, but experience has proved that it 
harmonizes with the practical workings of all 
schools, graded and ungraded. A teacher has 
no moral right to limit a bright pupil to the pro¬ 
gress of his class. Whenever the work of the 
class or of the grade does not tax a pupil with 
all he can do, promote him. Do not wait until 

*The sole ground for promotion is reasonable fidelity. I venture to 
believe that this is the true ground of promotion in grammar-schools as 
well, and that by the sole use of this principle in promoting, the difficulty 
now under consideration would be much alleviated, if not done away 
with. The right time for advancing a child to the study of a new sub¬ 
ject is the first moment he is capable of comprehending it. All our di¬ 
visions of the total school period into years, and into primary, grammar, 
and high schools, are artificial and in most cases hurtful or hindering to 
the individual. The whole school life should be one unbroken flow from 
one fresh interest and one new light to another, and the rate of that flow 
ought to be different for each different child. 

Uniformity is the curse of American schools. That any school or col¬ 
lege has a uniform product should be regarded as a demonstration of in¬ 
feriority—of incapacity to meet the legitimate demands of a social order 
whose fundamental principle is that every career should be open to tal¬ 
ent. Selection of studies for the individual, instruction addressed to the 
individual, irregular promotion, grading by natural capacity and rapid¬ 
ity of attainment, and diversity of product as regards age and acquisi¬ 
tions, must come to characterize the American public school if it is to 
answer the purposes of a democratic society.— Pres’t Eliot , Harvard Uni - 
versity . 






THE SCHOOL. 


169 


the close of the term. Industry is essential to 
interest and progress. Opportunity waits for 
no one. Dull pupils should not be degraded be¬ 
cause they cannot make a certain per cent in a 
written examination. The exact mental power 
of a pupil cannot be determined by any formal 
process. * In all the relations of life, the individ¬ 
ual has rights that society and institutions should 
respect. The rights of an individual pupil 
transcend custom, theory, and practice. Inher¬ 
ited beliefs and traditional practices should yield 

* We believe that pupils who have performed their duty during the 
term in a satisfactory manner are entitled to promotion without further 
test. The principals are expected to visit the classes constantly during 
the term, and to become familiar with the character of the pupils’ work. 

* * * The combined judgment of class teacher and principal, based 
upon close observation of the pupils day after day, is, in our judgment, 
as good a test to determine promotions as can be found .—John Jasper , 
Sup’t Schools New York City. 

Experience shows that this assumed uniformity of conditions does not 
exist. The pupils in the several classes are unequal in mental ability 
and physical vigor; they do not possess equal ambition or application; 
they have unlike home advantages and assistance; sickness and other 
causes interfere with regular attendance; and their teachers are unequal 
in ability and skill. Moreover, the teacher of a given class may not be 
equally helpful to all the pupils in it. His methods of instruction and 
discipline may not be equally adapted to the different minds and dispo¬ 
sitions represented in the class, and his personal influence—not a small 
factor in school training—may not reach all pupils alike.— Dr. E. E. 
White . 





170 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


to the inalienable rights of the individual. In 
school work, common sense must often be substi¬ 
tuted for much that is called “ sound pedagogics. ” 
Practical facts often conflict with professional 
theories. 

Eighth, Monthly Reports. —At the close of 
each school month, a report showing the AT¬ 
TENDANCE, Deportment, and Scholarship of 
each pupil should be sent to the parents or guard¬ 
ians. The attendance for the month should be 
expressed in days and half days ; the deportment 
should be marked Excellent, Good, or Bad; 
the scholarship, High, Medium, or Low. The 
Monthly Report should be simple, specific, and 
very brief. It should show only attendance, de¬ 
portment, and scholarship. Special complaints 
in regard to a pupil’s deportment should be made 
the subject of a special note, or better still, the 
subject of an interview. 

Beginning with the first year or grade and 
ending with the twelfth year or high school, the 
following diagram represents the average attend- 



THE SCHOOL. 


171 


ance through the school course. It shows that 
but fifty per cent, reach the sixth grade, thirty 
per cent, the eighth grade, and five per cent, com¬ 
plete the course.* 


5 % 

6 % 

10 % 

15 % 


12 


11 


10th year. 


30 % 

40 % 


50 % 
60 % 

75 % 

85 % 

90 % 

100 % 


9th year. 


8th year. 


7 th year. 


6 th year. 


5th year. 


4th year. 


3d year. 


2d year. 


1st year. 


*Of the pupils enrolled in the lowest grade (first half of year) some 90 
percent, will reach the second grade; 85 per cent, the third grade; 75 
per cent, the fourth grade; 60 per cent, the fifth grade; 50 per cent, the 
sixth grade; 40 per cent, the seventh grade; 30 per cent, the eighth grade; 
15 per cent, the ninth grade (high school); 10 per cent, the tenth grade ; 
6 per cent, the eleventh grade; 5 per cent, the twelfth grade, and some 4 
per cent, will complete the course.— E. E. White. 






























Every schoolmaster and schoolmistress in the Union may 
reflect, however humble or secluded be his station, that he has 
the opportunity of raising his school to an eminence. He may 
do his part towards elevating the standard of education, and 
sound a trumpet to the higher institutions to elevate theirs. He 
may reflect, as he enters the door of his schoolhouse, whether it 
be in the populous village or on the lonely prairie; whether on 
the bleak hillside, or under the shade of the grove; whether 
pitched on a mountain, or sprinkled by the surges of the ocean, 
that its naked walls may be decorated with simple ornaments, at¬ 
tractive to the eye, favorable to the taste, and instructive to 
the mind; the arrangements may be such as to secure healthful 
postures and exercise, thorough instruction and necessary variety, 
well attempered light, and the purest air that heaven affords. It 
may be the abode of harmony, happiness, and improvement. 
The best of friendships may be formed there; and the path which 
conducts to it, however stony or winding, may be associated in 
many a useful mind with recollections of childhood, and the loft¬ 
iest conceptions of science, of man, and his Creator .—Timothy 
Dwight. 


CHAPTER XIII. 


THE TEACHER. 

Teaching children is the greatest of all respon¬ 
sibilities. That upon which the teacher leaves 
his impress is the human soul, destined to an 
eternal association with the Infinite. The law 
of influence makes us like our surroundings. If 
events change men, much more does association 
change children. In the environments of a child’s 
early life is found the beauty or the deformity of 
his old age. Character grows out of the images 
which cross it in early life. As the ideals of 
youth are the realities of old age, school associa¬ 
tions play an important part in the formation of 
character. Pew are fitted by nature and culture 
to mould the minds and hearts of others. The 
teacher is as much a special creation as the poet. 
Adaptation is nature. 




174 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


Be Heroic. —Action defines ; all else is cheap. 
If you do not feel the purpose of your life, you 
cannot expect success. * If you do not feel the re¬ 
sponsibility of your place, you cannot fill it. If 
you think that success is a gift rather than a re¬ 
ward, pack your trunk, for your successor is 
looking for a place. If you hope to win, you 
must work. It is not manly to beg for there is 
always a vacancy. Success is the reward that 
nature offers to the worthy. It is not indiscrim- 


* In order that a teacher should be thoroughly devoted to his work, he 
should be duly sensible of its importance; he should believe that the fu¬ 
ture character of a country depends upon the education of its children; 
he should be fully aware that in the soft and virgin soil of their souls he 
may plant the shoots of poison or sow the seeds of sweet-scented flowers or 
of life-giving fruit; he should realize the momentous thought that the 
little, prattling, thoughtless children by whom he is surrounded are to 
become the men of the approaching age. As a necessary consequence of 
all this, he should carefully look to the predilections of children. That 
child who is amusing himself with drawing triangles and circles may, un¬ 
der proper training, hereafter become another Pascal; that little dirty ur¬ 
chin who is plucking flowers by the wayside may become the poet or the 
orator of his age; that thoughtful, feeble body who is watching the effect 
of the steam as it blows and puffs from the tea-kettle, may become an¬ 
other Watt, destined to multiply the resources of our national wealth and 
power; that ruthless little savage who is leading mimic battles of the 
snow-storm may become (unless his evil tendencies are counteracted by 
education) another Napoleon, who may seize with a giant grasp the iron 
thunderbolt of death, and on the wreck of a people’s hopes and happiness 
build himself up a terrible monument of guilt and greatness.— T, Tate f 







THE TEACHER. 


175 


inately handed out to the contented. The hope 
of the child-life in your charge should inspire you 
and dignify your work. 

Be Ideal. —The real is built upon the ideal. 
Children should be led to build grandly through 
the help of grand ideals. They should be led to 
plan for more than shelter, clothes, and bread. 
We are encouraged or discouraged by every con¬ 
tact with others. The petty book-worm dwarfs 
us; the generalizer enlarges us. The uncon¬ 
scious influence of the teacher cannot be meas¬ 
ured. Imitation is so strong a trait in children 
that if the teacher stammer, some of the pupils 
will stammer; if he be an egotist, many of the 
pupils will become egotists. Plato was stoop¬ 
shouldered, and half his pupils walked bent. 
With children, teachers are more than ideals; 
they are realities. The personal influence of 
the teacher is more lasting than the text-book 
facts he teaches. He is more than books and 
authority; he is inspiration and life. 

The success of a school depends upon the fit- 



176 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


ness and purpose of the teacher. The teacher 
is the school. Pupils need leaders, not masters. 
The teacher, next to the mother, is responsible 
for the ideals of the young. He is a priest to 
childhood. * The care of several hundred children, 
or of one child, is a sacred trust—too sacred to 
be farmed out to the lowest bidder or to persons 
of limited experience. There is no moral rela¬ 
tion between incompetency and any salary. 

Be) Competent. — Intelligent results follow 
intelligent aims. Teachers should be larger than 
the text-books they use. Slavery to the text in 
use is poverty of knowledge. Scanty informa¬ 
tion makes a timid teacher. Pupils need the 
courage which is born of a conscious knowledge 
of the subject; they need the enthusiasm of a 
specialist. Mastery of the subject should char¬ 
acterize all the teacher does in the recitation. 
Little inspiration can be created in others by a 
mere follower. No imitator can develop into a 

* An educator is a trainer whose function it is to draw forth persist¬ 
ently, habitually, and permanently the powers of a child; and education 
is the process which he employs for this purpose.— Joseph, Payne, 




THE TEACHER. 


177 


real teacher. The value of the school depends 
upon the intellectual and moral power of the 
teacher; hence culture and purpose are essential.* 
Only those who think are competent to direct 
the 1 hinking of others. Thought-power awakens 
thought-power. Purpose and feeling are or¬ 
ganic. There is no more character in merely 
keeping school than there is moral worth in blind 
obedience. 

Experience .shows that good schools cannot be 
created by the edicts of superintendents. If the 
teachers have been trained for their work, the 
schools will be good; if they be untrained, the 
schools will be poor. The blind cannot lead the 
blind. The untrained cannot train others. It 


* Unless the teacher takes care to furnish his own mind, he will soon 
find his present stock of knowledge, however liberal that may be, fading 
from his memory and becoming unavailable. To prevent this, and to 
keep along with every improvement, he should regularly pursue a course 
of study. I say regularly; for in order to accomplish anything really 
desirable, he must do something every day. By strict system in all his 
arrangements, he may find time to do it; and whenever I am told by a 
teacher that he can not find time to study, I always infer that there is a 
want of order in his arrangements, or a want of punctuality in the observ¬ 
ance of that order. Human life is short; but most men still further 
abridge the period allotted to them, by a disregard of system.— Page . 




178 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


should be clear to all that trained teachers are 
more necessary than trained doctors and lawyers. 
If training the minds of children does not require 
training, purpose, and character, what service 
for others does require it? We sometimes en¬ 
trust the training of the minds of our children 
to untrained boys and girls, but we demand 
trained doctors to treat their bodies. We some¬ 
times entrust the formation of the mental habits 
of our children to those who know little or noth¬ 
ing of the laws which govern the mind, but we 
demand qualified lawyers to look after our prop¬ 
erty—irreconcilable facts. 

Be Persistent. —The abstract merit of a 
cause is not sufficient to insure its success. 
Truth is mighty, but it prevails only when its 
advocates fight for it. Success is not a gift, but 
a reward. It never comes to us while we are 
asleep. Working reformers reform; all other 
reformers are mere fault-finders. The law of 
progress demands persistent effort. Things 
easily accomplished are usually of little value. 



THE TEACHER. 


. 179 


No one familiar with the history of civilization 
expects to substitute the millenium for the pres¬ 
ent condition without a struggle, nor even then. 
We should learn from history and from our ex¬ 
periences that there is no short road to perma¬ 
nent success. Little by little, step by step, we 
have grown to what we are. 

Have Faith. —Believe in the ten year old 
boy. Believe in his natural goodness and capac¬ 
ity. He is neither bad nor lazy. Believe that 
he is an inquirer, and treat him accordingly. Do 
not destroy what he has, but help him to add to 
it. Direction is more helpful than suppression. 
Obedience does not mean absorption. Schools 
are not penitentiaries. Teachers should not be 
masters, but sympathetic companions and guides. 
Teaching children is a head-and-heart work. 

Be Sincere. —Moral purpose is wanting in 
many who profess a high degree of theoretical 
morality. Such persons are unfit to have the 
care of children. The morality of books is a 
poor substitute for personal character. Is the 



180 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


man who resorts to subterfuge—to lying, by con¬ 
cealment or otherwise,—fit to be trusted with 
the education of children ? The world has more 
need of living example than of dead precept. 
Children measure teachers by their actions. 
Greatness is a concrete virtue.* Immortality is 
born of purpose. Do not discourage a manly 
boy of fifteen with a sickly lecture about his duty 
to God and man, but exhibit in your daily inter¬ 
course with him a moral purpose which evades 
formal expression. Healthy pupils are optimis¬ 
tic in their views of life, and should not be dis¬ 
couraged by the pessimism of inherited beliefs. 

Be Methodical. —The methodical man is al¬ 
ways at home—the unmethodical man, never. 
It is methodical drill that disciplines the mind 
and makes study pleasant and profitable. Proper 


* In all your intercourse with your fellow-teachers, be careful to use 
the “words of truth and soberness.” In stating your experience, never 
allow your fancy to embellish your facts. Of this there is great danger. 
The young are sometimes tempted to tell a good story; but a deviation 
from the truth—always perilous and always wrong—may be peculiarly 
disastrous here. Experience overstated, may egregiously mislead the un¬ 
wary inquirer after truth. Never over-color the picture; it is better to 
err on the other side.— Page. 




THE TEACHER. 


181 


methods create an appetite for knowledge, de¬ 
velop independence of character, and incline the 
pupil to depend upon himself. It is method, en¬ 
ergy, and persistency that win. It is how an 
act is performed, rather than what is performed, 
that educates. Mechanical work soon becomes 
monotonous, even to children. 

Be Impartial. —Children detect any form of 
favoritism. If you want the good will of all, 
treat all alike. Treat all pupils with equal sin¬ 
cerity, justice, and singleness of purpose. At 
the school-yard gate all distinctions, real or im¬ 
aginary, should disappear. Teachers who dis¬ 
criminate for like offenses are too cowardly to 
have places in our schools. 

Be Earnest. —In all the relations of life suc¬ 
cess bestows its crown upon purpose and earn¬ 
estness. If you expect interest on the part of 
your pupils, you must manifest interest yourself. 
Activity is contagious. Moral character, in the 
certificate, means action. It means sympathy 
with the school-life of your pupils. The real 



182 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


teacher is an enthusiast. Teach that “Life is 
real, life is earnest,” by the earnestness of your 
own example.* 

Be Honest. —The real teacher is a true man 
or a true woman. Popularity purchased at a 
sacrifice of principle is always short-lived. The 
real teacher is broader than an “ism,” and bet¬ 
ter than a petty politician. He represents the 
manward side of life. He should be free enough 
from prejudice to accept the truth from any 
source. The successful teacher believes, feels, 
and acts. 

I am glad that the drift in education is toward 
investigation. Inspiration is more nearly re¬ 
lated to inquiry than to belief. We think, that 
we may feel—that we may act—that we may 

* But in any case really vital results can be secured only in the degree 
in which the teacher throws his whole life into his work. It is, above 
all, through the contagion of his own personal enthusiasm that interest is 
to be awakened on the part of his pupils; just as it is only through the 
freshness and validity of his own knowledge of the subject that his pupils 
can be led to apprehend its fundamental features, and to assimilate the 
proper method by which they can hope to become independent inquirers. 
A working teacher will always have working pupils; and this the more 
if they are not overwhelmed with text-books rendered wholly unmanage¬ 
able for them bv sheer excess of details.— Bryant’s Psychology. 





THE TEACHER. 


183 


live. “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” 
We need not only intellect, but character. In¬ 
tellect only sees; the heart feels. The teacher 
is the ideal. In school the pupil forms his first 
impressions of the world outside of home ; hence 
the teacher should be tender, trusty, and true. 
His manner should express independence, pa¬ 
tience, and sympathy. Independence is inspiring, 
patience heroic, and sympathy divine. 

The true teacher is an ideal man or woman. 
He stands for culture, progress, and humanity. 
He acknowledges the responsibility of his pro¬ 
fession ; he really lives, not merely exists by suf¬ 
ferance. But every profession has its dead mem¬ 
bers ; every institution has its contented believ¬ 
ers ; every vocation its dodgers and apologizers. 
The teacher’s profession is not an exception. 



The essential element of social culture is found in moral char¬ 
acter. Without this latter, every graceful device of behavior 
remains worthless, and can never attain that purity of humility 
and dignity which are possible to it in its unity with morality. 

* * * * * * 

The consideration of the culture of character leads to the sub¬ 
ject of conscience. This is the comparison which the moral 
agent makes between himself as he is and his ideal self. He 
compares himself, in his past or future, with his nature, and 
judges himself accordingly as good or bad. This independence 
which belongs to the ethical judgment is the true soul of all 
morality, the negation of all self-illusion and of all deception 
through another. The educational maxim is : Be conscientious. 
Depend in your final decision entirely on your conception of 
what is right.— Rosenlcranz. 


CHAPTER XIV. 


MORAL EDUCATION. 


Intellectual training alone can never be relied 
upon as a reformatory power. Bacon, Byron, 
and Poe possessed genius, but they lacked char¬ 
acter. John Stuart Mill was the most eminent 
exponent of intellectualism of his day, but he 
worshipped only music, painting, poetry, and his 
wife. Daniel Webster was an intellectual giant; 
but he was also almost a sot. Many other illus¬ 
trations might be added to show that a mixture 
of the spelling book and the rule of three will not 
make a moral man. Intellectual education is only 
a preparation for moral education, which aims to 
teach man his duty to his fellow man and to his 
God. The child becomes a man through the cul¬ 
ture of the intellect, but is a man through the 




186 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


culture of the heart. Feeling outranks intellect¬ 
uality. Teaching which does not develop feeling 
is almost worthless. The test of methods of in¬ 
struction, intellectual and moral, is the kind of 
character produced. Man needs character as 
well as culture. 

Mere intellectuality does not equip one for the 
life that now is, nor for the life to come. “Char¬ 
acter,” .says Emerson, “repudiates intellect, yet 
excites it.” Great thoughts are born in the 
heart. Man is a being of more than intellect; 
he has appetites, passions, and an emotional na¬ 
ture. Intellectuality does not primarily appeal 
to the moral nature; moral education reaches 
down and seizes the motive power in human ac¬ 
tion. Moral instruction appeals to the primitive 
facts of moral consciousness, independently of all 
formal theologies. Theology is of the intellect; 
Christianity is of the heart. There was no tech¬ 
nical theology in the preaching of Jesus. Moral 
instruction should clinch moral habits ; it should 
make clear to the child the universal laws upon 



MORAL EDUCATION. 


187 


which moral conduct is based.* Moral instruc¬ 
tion means training the child in habits which 
yield conviction and character. The function of 
the school is not merely to store the memory, but 
to train the soul of the child. The child goes to 
school to grow better, wiser, wider, and deeper; 
to be educated, rather than merely instructed in 
text-books. 


* Education is the preparation for complete living.— Spencer. 

The purpose of education is to give to the body and to the soul, all the 
beauty and all the perfection of which they are capable.— Plato. 

We must accept nothing from precautionary maxims beyond the point 
at which practice has changed them into firm habits.— Locke. 

Intellectual education is surely the best of preparations for moral edu¬ 
cation. Whatever is done for developing the intelligence is far from be¬ 
ing lost, so far as the culture of the sentiments, of the moral conscious¬ 
ness, and of the will is concerned. In a well-organized intelligence, all 
whose faculties have received the education appropriate to their destina¬ 
tion, the moral qualities of the character germinate spontaneously. The 
man merely instructed is sometimes a bad man; but we doubt whether 
the same thing is true of a man well educated intellectually. A tempered 
imagination, a powerful attention, and a sound judgment, are reliable 
barriers which vouch for the ardor of the passions and prevent the errors 
of conduct. 

It is none the less true that intellectual education is not sufficient, but 
that the other faculties also demand a special culture. The man of feel¬ 
ing has no less value than the man of intellect. We are not destined 
merely to know and comprehend, but are also made to feel and love. 
Moral education is, then, to be distinguished from intellectual education, 
and its first purpose ought to be the culture of the feelings.— CompayrI. 





188 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


Idea OF Right. —The moral nature in man 
concerns itself about the right and the wrong in 
human conduct.* Ideas of right and wrong are 
intuitive. All sorts of people have some idea 
that there is a right, and that there is a wrong. 
All men admit that every man should have what 
is due to him, and that every one should do unto 
others as he would have others do unto him. 

'•The end of study is not knowledge, but conduct.— Aristotle. 

To the intellectual culture which forms the mind there.should be the 
moral courage which forms the heart.— M. Gerard. 

Instruction is but the least part of education. What a father should 
desire for his son is virtue before everything else; knowledge occupies 
but the second place.— Locke. 

The three ends of education are character, culture, and learning, and it 
is clear that the first of these ends should never be sacrificed as a means 
of securing the other two.— Dr. Woolsey. 

The education of the heart is confessedly too much neglected in all our 
schools. It has often been remarked that “ knowledge is power,” and as 
truly that “ knowledge without principle to regulate it may make a man 
a powerful villain! ” It is all-important that our youth should early re¬ 
ceive such moral training as shall make it safe to give them knowledge. 
Very much of this work must devolve upon the teacher; or rather, when 
he undertakes to teach, he assumes the responsibility of doing or of neg¬ 
lecting this work. 

The precept of the teacher may do much toward teaching the child his 
duty to God, to himself, and to his fellow-beings. But it is not mainly 
by precept that this is to be done. Sermons and homilies are but little 
heeded in the school-room ; and unless the teacher has some other mode 
of reaching the feelings and the conscience, he may despair of being suc¬ 
cessful in moral training.— Page. 





MORAL EDUCATION. 


189 


These two principles embrace the whole moral 
law, and do not depend upon any particular form 
of religious belief, nor upon the observance of 
any formal ceremonies for their recognition or 
interpretation. They are self-evident truths ; 
they cover the whole ground of moral instruc¬ 
tion ; they teach that man should be just, benev¬ 
olent, merciful, and forgiving. 

The School a Moral Institution. —The 
school is a moral influence. Most children are 
naturally good, notwithstanding the dogma of 
total depravity. No child exhibits so deep de¬ 
pravity as the person who declares humanity a 
failure. The teacher who believes that children 
are totally depraved is unfit, from a moral stand¬ 
point, to have charge of a school. No amount of 
intellectual culture can apologize for the deprav¬ 
ity of a heart filled with such a belief. The prog¬ 
ress of civilization shows that humanity is not 
a failure; educational, religious, and charitable 
institutions deny the doctrine of the total de¬ 
pravity of man. The converse of pessimism is 




ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS . 


IDO 

true. Man is the greatest of successes, and the 
public free school is the whitest flower of civili¬ 
zation. Parties and creed religion may fail, but 
patriotism and Christianity can never fail. We 
are here not only to educate ourselves, but to in¬ 
sist upon the education of all that are here and 
of all that may come here. No other theory of 
life has meaning. “The soul stipulates no pri¬ 
vate good.” The public school does not aim to 
teach morality through the use of ceremonies, 
nor through the recitation of abstract, moral 
precepts. It has a larger service for humanity 
than is found in the formal observances of rites 
and ceremonies. The world is fast learning that 
“Life is practice, not theory.” 

The public school is neither irreligious nor 
godless because it does not require, in its daily 
programme of exercises, some of the usual, formal 
doctrines of the one hundred and fifty different 
forms of doctrinal beliefs. Instruction in the 
public school is moral, because it aims to develop 
moral character independently of hereditary be- 



MORAL EDUCATION . 


11)1 


liefs and prejudices. Its freedom from external 
authority is the highest possible evidence of its 
moral worth. 

ScHooi/ Studies Moral Influences. —All 
school studies have a value as knowledge; they 
have a higher value as a discipline. The school 
is only a means to an end, and that end is char¬ 
acter rather than culture. As the public gram¬ 
mar school educates more than ninety per cent, 
of our population, the character of the instruc¬ 
tion is of the highest importance. The studies 
pursued in school have a moral influence upon 
children. The study of history has a very high 
moral value. It places before the child the lives 
of heroes and heroines, good and bad, thus help¬ 
ing him to create ideals. It gives to the teacher 
his greatest opportunity to impress upon the pu¬ 
pil the cost and value of civil and religious lib¬ 
erty, the beauty of patriotism, and the duties of 
citizenship. 

The study of geography gives to the pupil an 
opportunity to see the beautiful in landscapes, 



102 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS . 


mountains, oceans, lakes, and rivers. It gives 
to the imagination the widest range in which to 
make the beautiful in nature still more beautiful. 
It carries the child out of reality into ideality— 
out of the finite into the infinite. Geography 
appeals directly to the conceptual and the imagi¬ 
native powers of the mind ; it cultivates both the 
reasoning and the aesthetic faculties. 

The study of mathematics trains the child to 
concise and direct statements of principles and 
conclusions; hence it inclines him to a correct, 
economical, and logical use of language. Arith¬ 
metic, especially, lacks the continuity of thought 
found in the other elementary studies; hence it 
cultivates a quick and independent judgment. It 
deals with a greater number of particular and 
general notions than the other studies ; hence it 
furnishes a greater number of general truths. 

The study of the sciences cultivates both the 
judgment and the reason, in accuracy and truth¬ 
fulness. Scientific men are apt to be more accu¬ 
rate in their statements than other men. The 



MORAL EDUCATION. 


193 


study of the sciences cultivates intellectual hon¬ 
esty, without which moral character is impossi¬ 
ble. The distinguishing characteristic of scien¬ 
tific men is an unquenchable thirst for truth—for 
exact truth. 

The study of literature wisely selected has a 
direct moral influence upon the child. In litera¬ 
ture we find the two spirits, angels and demons, 
which accompany us through life. By associa¬ 
tion with ideal characters in literature, the child 
grows to love the true, the beautiful, and the 
good, and to hate the false, the ugly, and the 
bad. In short, the value of the school depends 
more upon the ideals it creates than upon the 
facts it teaches. 

School Exercises Moral Agencies. —The 
school exercises, if properly conducted, tend 
toward the formation of moral habits. The dis¬ 
cipline of the school, if good, has a direct moral 
influence upon the character of the child. Sound 
methods of instruction lead to the formation of 
good habits. Promptness, politeness, deference, 



194 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


and exactness should enter into all school exer¬ 
cises. Virtue can be taught without teaching 
particular formulas or beliefs. Moral habits deal 
with the relations of man to man—with the obli¬ 
gations and the duties of every day life. 

The school, next to the home, offers special 
occasions for training the child in those habits 
which develop moral character. The daily exer¬ 
cises do much toward changing him from a nat¬ 
ural to a spiritual being. They train him in hab¬ 
its of punctuality, industry, order, and obedience. 
The recitation of lessons gives the teacher an 
opportunity to impress upon the pupil the value 
of honesty — to teach him that he should not 
expect nor receive help from his classmates— 
that ‘ ‘ The merit of a performance is in the soul 
of the performer.” 

Example Teaches. —The character of the 
teacher is everything to the child. The teacher 
is the ideal. A large-souled man is a grand con¬ 
tribution to humanity, wherever he is found ; and 
where such a man is placed at the head of a 



MORAL EDUCATION. 


195 


school, he becomes the most influential person in 
the district. Children naturally love the liberal, 
and hate the petty. Moral instruction does not 
mean set lectures on ethical subjects, so much as 
moral example on the part of the teacher. Ab¬ 
stract moral precepts have little or no meaning 
to children. Actions speak with more force than 
precepts; works with more force than words. 
There is nothing cheaper than the cant of a pro¬ 
fessional moral theorist. But the moral fanatic 
has his place. In seeing but one phase of a sub¬ 
ject, and unduly exaggerating his one virtue , he 
helps others to see that most questions are many 
sided. 

Association Educates. —Associates are the 
great teachers. Education in more a matter of 
association with men and nature than with 
teachers and books. Emerson says : “We send 
our children to the schools to be taught by the 
teachers, but the teachers are really educated by 
the pupils.” Character, the real end of educa¬ 
tion, is more the result of association than of all 



1 ( JG 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS . 


other influences combined. In fact, a man is 
known by his associations—by the company he 
keeps. Only in a moral atmosphere is it possible 
for the child to grow into a moral character ; 
hence the need of constant vigilance on the part 
of parents and teachers. 

Industry Promotes Morality. —A more in¬ 
dustrious and exacting home-life than is found in 
a large majority of American families is an urg¬ 
ent need. Most children do not receive in the 
home the training and discipline which result in 
the early formation of habits of industry. Child¬ 
ren should be trained at an'early age to do for 
themselves, and to help in the family. There is 
an intellectual and moral training in doing , not 
found in theoretical ethics. There is neither 
greatness nor goodness without labor. Patience, 
perseverance, and moral purpose are born of in¬ 
dustry. Every home furnishes ample opportuni¬ 
ties for training children in habits of industry, 
obedience, and politeness. 

Education a Growth. —Moral education, like 



MORAL EDUCATION. 


197 


intellectual education, is the result of training; 
it is a growth, not a gift. God gives life and 
opportunity only. Man must grow into condi¬ 
tions ; he can never be more than the sum of his 
own efforts. Character is the outgrowth of feel¬ 
ing, conviction, and action. The mechanical 
recitation of moral maxims or of church creeds 
and the automatic observance of formal ceremo¬ 
nies do not reach the heart. Our need is not 
more formal religion, but more Christianity; not 
more preaching, but more teaching. It is often 
a long distance between theoretical religion and 
practical Christianity. It is the daily observa¬ 
tion of this fact that continues to embarrass and 
discourage the practical man of the world. 

Character. —Conscience always approves the 
right, and condemns the wrong. God did not 
create man without an internal and ever-present 
guide. This ever-present mentor, conscience, 
should always be obeyed. The aim of the 
teacher should be to lead the pupil to act uni¬ 
formly in accordance with the promptings of his 



198 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


conscience. The highest motive in life is the 
desire to do right because it is right, not because 
some outside authority has commanded this or 
that. Duty is the only authority; it is always 
right. It involves not only the desire for the ap¬ 
proval of one’s own conscience, but the desire for 
the approval of God and man. Right and wrong 
cannot be determined by creeds and theologies, 
but by the mentor within. Non-sectariam moral 
instruction develops, without cant and without 
prejudice, moral ideas and tends to the formation 
of virtues and manly habits. It is possible to 
speak with reverence and authority, yet to lack 
the moral courage which constitutes the value of 
a life. The child’s greatest need is not mere 
book-learning, but moral character. Moral cour¬ 
age is not only the child’s greatest need; it is 
the state’s greatest need, also. 

The realization of a moral character is the 
highest possible attainment. A truly moral man 
is one whose moral purpose has grown into hab¬ 
its. Moral instruction rests wholly upon educa- 



MORAL EDUCATION. 


199 


tional grounds ; the religious bias or prejudice of 
the instructor has nothing whatever to do with 
it. It rests upon higher and firmer principles 
than a mere belief in some formal doctrines. 
Moral actions do not depend upon the acceptance 
of the systems of theologians. Goodness and 
greatness are concrete virtues. 

“The home is the garden of moral training.” 
Mothers are the great formative influences in the 
lives of children. The home, more than all other 
influences, educates the child under the age of 
ten years. Beside the influence of the home, all 
other influences are timid and ineffectual. If 
children are wisely governed during their first 
ten years, little risk attends their future. School 
discipline can never make good the deficiencies of 
the home. 

The public school is supported by people of all 
political parties and of all phases of religious be¬ 
lief. As there is no state religion in the United 
States, there should be no creed or formal relig¬ 
ion in the state schools. The moral instructor 



200 


ELEMENTS OF PEDAGOGICS. 


should teach morality, but not religion. He 
should deliver to his pupils a clear understanding 
of what is right and what is wrong, but here his 
duty ceaseso It is not his business to formulate 
articles of belief. As an individual he may sub¬ 
scribe to any doctrine, but he has no moral right 
to teach it to others. It is the business of relig¬ 
ion and philosophy to formulate beliefs and to 
discuss theories, but the teacher is never called 
upon to choose between metaphysical assevera¬ 
tions. The grounds of moral obligation are not 
topics for the recitation-room. 

But there is ample ground for all religions and 
all parties to stand upon. All good men, of 
whatever religious belief, accept the great, fun¬ 
damental moral truths. These should be deliv¬ 
ered to the pupils in the best pedagogic manner, 
and illustrated in the daily life of the teacher. 
The great body of men in all civilized countries 
believe in the existence of God and in the immor¬ 
tality of the soul, but no two religious sects agree 
upon the details of formal beliefs. The great 



MORAL EDUCATION. 


201 


majority of men believe in future rewards and 
punishments, but differ widely in regard to the 
character of the reward or punishment. Most 
men believe that man is personally responsible to 
God and man, but perhaps no two would fully 
agree in regard to the degree of the responsi¬ 
bility. From these facts it follows that no form 
of sectarianism can ever be introduced into the 
public school without endangering the free school 
.system itself. The Great Teacher knew no 
creed, but 

“ With reverent feet the earth He trod, 

Nor banished nature from His plan, 

But studied still with deep research 
To build the Universal Church, 

Lofty as is the love of God, 

And ample as the wants of man.” 







APPENDIX. 


The Ideal Life. 



Commencement Address, State Normal School, Warrensburg, Mo., 
June 9, 1891. It is published here in the belief that it is a fitting con¬ 
clusion to the preceding chapters.— Author. 


CHAPTER XV. 


THE IDEAL LIFE. 


Wordsworth said: 

“ Earthly fame 

Is fortune’s frail dependent; yet there lives 
A Judge, who, as man claims by merit, gives: 

To whose all-pondering mind a noble aim, 

Faithfully kept, is as a noble deed ; 

In whose pure sight all virtue doth succeed.” 

A man is described by his ambition. If his 
ambition is the accumulation of wealth, he is a 
slave of selfishness ; if it is fame, he will stoop 
to please ; if pleasure, he lives for the transient. 
To live for wealth, fame, or pleasure, is to live 
for the present. With Bishop Spalding feel that 

u To live for common ends is to be common; 

The highest faith still makes the highest man ; 

For we grow like the things our souls believe, 

And rise or sink as we aim high or low.” 

Ideals are to realities as cause to effect, hence 




206 


THE IDEAL LIFE. 


the progress of the world depends upon the ideals 
of the masses. Ideals have saved the race from 
despondency and suicide. The ideal is the ever 
movable star that kindly advances as we approach 
it; it is the unattainable which has attained the 
present; it is that upon which the intellectual 
and moral condition of the future depends. 
What a cold and uninviting world this would be 
without ideals! The home would be a cheerless 
dungeon, and the grave the end. A life of iso¬ 
lated, realizable facts would be almost pulseless. 
Without ideals and labor, life would be an aim¬ 
less dream. 

Intellect guides the world. It gives us higher 
ideals and nobler aims. It sees what will be, 
and thus uplifts the beholder. It opens the door 
of the soul and helps one to feel that ‘ ‘ Life is 
real, life is earnest.” It enables one to shine 
by his own light. Only through education have 
the masses advanced to a freer, higher, and bet¬ 
ter life. Culture stands for our best things. 
It vitalizes the intellectual and moral nature of 




THE IDEAL LIFE. 


207 


man. The power to think and to enjoy the 
thoughts of others transforms poverty into 
wealth, cottages into palaces, and the humble 
into kings. Thinking makes the slave less a 
slave, the saint more a saint; it makes wealth 
more serviceable, poverty more bearable; it 
sweetens sorrow, decreases misfortune, and de¬ 
fers emergencies. Faraday, Kepler, Franklin, 
Fulton, and Edison were the sons of poor pa¬ 
rents. Lincoln was born in a cabin, and Christ 
in a manger. Intellectuality does not need the 
influence of gold to give it power. 

In a large measure, ideals depend upon the 
power to think. Three hundred years ago but 
few could read or write. At that time those in 
authority in church and state did not advocate 
the education of the masses. Civilization is a 
growth; Christianity is a growth. Adam and 
Eve once represented the innocent and ignorant 
poverty of the race, out of which has been evolved 
the inquiring man of today. In the beginning, 
man was a naked barbarian—naked in body— 



208 


THE IDEAL LIFE. 


naked in brain—naked in heart—naked in soul. 
The power to think relates man to the world 
around him. Thinking enables him to sift the 
true from the false, the real from the formal. 
Only through thinking can man find the truth or 
apply it. 

Nobleness of life depends, not upon our calling, 
but upon spirit and purpose. It is as honorable 
to teach school as to preach the gospel; to plow 
corn as to practice law. The inspiration of a 
high purpose, the beauty of a sincere life, are 
within the reach of all. The universe belongs 
to those who can appropriate it, rather than to 
those who can buy it. Milton was blind, but he 
saw more beautiful visions than most of us ever 
see. Beethoven was deaf, but he heard more 
beautiful music than most of us ever hear. No¬ 
ble thoughts and noble deeds give a meaning to 
life wholly unknown to those who worship the 
material. No king was ever so happy as Colum¬ 
bus, Newton, Emerson, Edison. Real life is a 
search after true greatness. Castles, royalty, 



THE IDEAL LIFE. 


209 


and regalia are surface exhibitions. The ideals 
which lift us to higher plains of thought and 
action are not found in the markets. 

Conditions are within us, not in our surround¬ 
ings. Happiness comes from within—it is born 
of the heart. Man, if unhappy, is the discordant 
element. All nature invites him into harmonious 
relations, not only with God, but with his fellow 
man. The quite prevalent idea that we are fated 
to three score and ten years of unhappiness, no 
matter how honestly and diligently we strive to 
avoid it, is repugnant to our natural sense of 
justice. As beauty of features is the outward 
expression of a noble purpose, so happiness is 
the inner expression of a pure life. 

The heart is but an atom, but the universe of 
matter cannot fill it. Our associates are spirits, 
not things. Excellence, whether intellectual or 
moral, can be attained only by keeping before 
you the true and the beautiful. By keeping high 
ideals before you, undiscovered powers are awak¬ 
ened into life, and thus you often realize more 



210 


THE IDEAL LIFE. 


than you seek. Great poets have discovered 
new powers of description by contemplating one 
of nature’s great scenes. Live in company with 
the ideals which love creates—love is the uplift¬ 
ing and inspiring force in humanity. 

The need is not more of us but a better quality 
of us. China illustrates the condition of a peo¬ 
ple wedded to material ideals. In a population 
of three hundred millions there is not one notably 
spiritual man or woman. Population does not 
measure the value of a country. Lincoln, not 
Chicago, speaks for Illinois ; Gladstone, not Lon¬ 
don, for England. One Washington is worth 
ten thousand average men. 4 ‘ The true test of 
civilization is not the census, nor the size of the 
cities, nor the crops—but the kind of men the 
country turns out,” wrote the sage of Concord, 
and the poet priest of Illinois has truthfully said 
that: 

“ A people is but tbe attempt of many 
To rise to the completer life of one; 

And those who live as models for the masses 
Are singly of more value than them all.” 




THE IDEAL LIFE. 


211 


Every man is a specialist and needs education. 
Every one should be a success in his own place, 
for every one born into the world is in some re¬ 
spects superior to all others. God offers every 
man a chance by making no duplicates. There 
are no favored few. God never excuses a man 
who violates a law. The law of compensation 
applies to all alike. No man was born for a par¬ 
asite or a Lord. The Prince of Wales should 
earn his own living by the sweat of his brow. 
The idler, rich or poor, is a beggar. Emerson 
said, 4 ‘No one is a whole man till he knows how 
to earn a blameless livelihood.” Carlyle said, 
“Whoever does not work, begs or steals.” Rus- 
kin said, ‘ ‘ If you want knowledge, you must toil 
for it; if food, you must toil for it; and if pleas¬ 
ure, you must toil for it. Toil is the law.” 

I have faith in the laborer, but not in the idler. 
Inspiration and manhood come from purpose and 
industry. All great men have been working 
men. Shakespeare was a theatre manager, Em¬ 
erson a school teacher, Lincoln a farmer. Na- 



212 


TEE IDEAL LIFE. 


ture does not give anything for the asking, 
merely; without purpose and effort there can be 
no advance, moral or intellectual. Great things 
never happen, they are always results. Expect 
not the miraculous, but the natural. Miraculous 
creations would not only subvert the natural or¬ 
der of development, but would destroy man’s in¬ 
spiration and responsibility. 

When a man ceases to struggle for higher re¬ 
alities, he is dead, not only to himself, but to 
the world. When he ceases to climb, he begins 
to fall. Rest is unknown in the intellectual and 
moral world. Ceaseless efforts have always 
characterized the lives of great men. Persever¬ 
ance is more valuable than talent. Results are 
not gifts, but rewards. No one can realize or 
accomplish anything by merely longing, hoping, 
and dreaming. Ninety-nine in one hundred who 
are born “with silver spoons in their mouths” 
and reared in idleness, live without friends and 
die without mourners. We are not entitled to 
rank, fame, or wealth by virtue of birth. 



THE IDEAL LIFE. 


213 


Ideals are revolutionizing the world. But I 
would not have you infer that the millenium of 
the dreamer is at hand; it is not, and never will 
be. The millenium is the dream of the unthink¬ 
ing. If it were possible to realize it, humanity 
would soon be a mass of ignorant degradation. 
A ceaseless struggle, here and hereafter, is man’s 
only hope of growth and happiness. “A man’s 
task is his life preserver.” The struggle for 
higher realities will ever remain. Today is sat¬ 
isfactory only to the extent that it is better than 
yesterday. Evolution is doing its work ; it has 
given us a new philosophy, a new biology, a new 
astronomy, and will yet give us a new theology. 

Teachers, be yourselves, do not imitate others. 
Eive within the limits described by the wisest of 
all men: 

“This above all: to thine own self be true, 

And it must follow, as the night the day, 

Thou canst not then be false to any man.” 

Say and write what you think. Sincerity is the 
first step toward greatness. Whatever your 
faith, let it be organic. You have no moral right 




214 


THE IDEAL LIFE. 


to imprison your souls in the dead beliefs of the 
dead past. Too much of life is a commodity, a 
convenience, and a habit. Individual thinking is 
the basis of moral conceptions. Reason is the 
only safe guide in all matters, religious, political, 
and economical. Individual responsibility de¬ 
mands individual thinking. If man is not free 
to think, he is but a machine; if he is not free to 
choose, he is not responsible. 

Be true to your highest convictions. The in¬ 
timations of your own souls are a safer guide 
than any outside authority. There is nothing 
inspiring in the lives of those who are drilled to 
step to the music of others. Permit no author¬ 
ity, church or state, to curtail the privilege of 
independent thinking. We are living in a time 
when conviction is at a premium. The habit of 
belief is not so strong as it once was; the pen¬ 
alty for thinking is not so severe. With the in¬ 
crease of general intelligence, we are less inclined 
to believe without investigation. Accepted dog¬ 
mas are questioned, and the man with a new idea 



THE IDEAL LIFE. 


215 


is certain to find an audience. The iconoclast is 
received with open arms. The demand of the age 
is truth, not tradition. 

" It is better to rest beneath the sod 
Than to be true to Church and State, 

While doubly false to God.” 

Live, not merely exist. Contentment is un¬ 
worthiness. A life of routine, a condition of 
fossilized habit, is not worthy the age in which 
you live. Moral growth demands intellectual 
freedom. Without the inspiration of personal 
conviction, the soul may become as dead as the 
Dead Sea. Self-respect demands that you throw 
off, if necessary, the captivity of early life, and 
seek the eternal significance of opportunity. You 
need more than your fathers needed. You need 
more than dead knowledge. Live in the breath¬ 
ing present. Growth often demands an absolute 
reversal of beliefs and policies. Dryden said : 

" By education most have been misled, 

So we believe because we were so bred: 

The priest continues what the nurse began, 

And thus the boy imposes on the man.” 



216 


THE IDEAL LIFE. 


Doing often means undoing. Independent think¬ 
ing has given us the present, and will forever con¬ 
tinue to make tomorrow better than today. The 
right to think is inalienable, or man is a machine; 
thought is life, or the human soul is a thing. 

Be courageous. Not one man in one thousand 
has ever had the courage to rise above the teach¬ 
ings and prejudices of his party or church and 
live in harmony with the suggestions of his own 
soul. What is often called consistency is only 
stagnation. Men who grow cannot be consistent 
in the sense that they do not change their opin¬ 
ions ; growth is change, or modification at least. 
To grow often means to outgrow. The only 
way to maintain your present intellectual and 
moral condition is to strive to attain to a higher 
one. This law of growth, through striving for 
higher ideals, is as universal in its application as 
the law of gravitation. That man should always 
struggle for higher realities, that he might 
never become perfect, God made him capable of 
infinite development throughout infinite time. 



THE IDEAL LIFE. 


217 


Were this not so, humanity would soon return to 
a state of ignorant barbarism, similar to the one 
which characterized the age of our first parents. 

It is legal to inherit an estate, but not compli¬ 
mentary to inherit a belief. Intellectual servi¬ 
tude neither honors God nor pleases man. There 
is but little in a life that merely exists, believes, 
and forgets. Thinking within a fixed circle, 
however ancient, cannot satisfy a growing soul. 
Growth depends upon the freedom to investi¬ 
gate—upon the courage of conviction. To every 
sincere soul, truth is more valuable than favor or 
the applause of the timid. The first thing man 
requires of man is man. We may excuse many 
sins in an honest man, but all the world hates a 
hypocrite. Conviction is a growth, belief is usu¬ 
ally an inheritance ; conviction is organic, belief, 
automatic. One is plus, the other minus. Live 
in the affirmative — negativeness is always a 
doubtful virtue. Do not preach, but teach. 
One living example is worth a thousand dead 
precepts. Breathing men govern the world. 





218 


THE IDEAL LIFE. 


Be not afraid. The courage of conviction has 
given the masses their opportunity; it has 
changed monarchies into republics, kings into 
subjects, and slaves into free men. Young man, 
young woman, you have no right to limit your 
search for truth to the teachings of your family, 
church, or party. An “ism” and a party are 
conditions of a day. Believe with the gifted 
Tennyson, that 

“ Our little systems have their day, 

They have their day and cease to be: 

They are but broken lights of Thee, 

And Thou, O Lord, art more than they.” 

Permit no man, priest or prophet, to come be¬ 
tween your soul and God. The right of convic¬ 
tion is a sacred personal right, and man should 
respect it. 

Avoid extremes. An abject and cowardly 
deference to authority and absolute independence 
of all authority are the two extremes which 
all should guard against. Too much depend¬ 
ence upon the ipse dixit of another makes one 
merely the recipient of pre-arranged ideas. 



THE IDEAL LIFE. 


219 


On the other hand, too much self-reliance ren¬ 
ders the influence of a superior mind power¬ 
less. Do not read to believe nor to disbelieve, 
but to investigate for yourself. Every one’s 
convictions should be the outgrowth of personal 
thinking. 

Purpose is essential to character; the dreamer 
is a commodity. Be more than straw on the 
river of time—be strong in purpose. Great 
deeds have usually been the work of individuals, 
and usually in opposition to law. Great leaders 
have always been self-directed. Behind every 
great success may be found a strong personality. 
The great achievements of the world are due to 
the progressive spirit of the few. Tlie masses 
have always opposed new ideas, new ideals, and 
new realities. Be a hero. The hero is ideal— 
the inspiration of his age, the leader of men, 
the founder of institutions. He is greater than 
human creeds, ceremonial rites, and traditional 
beliefs. 

Look not to the self-constituted leaders. Look 



220 


THE IDEAL LIFE . 


within for suggestions; the soul is always true 
to itself. 'The professionals are timid and self¬ 
ish. Every man born into the world must face 
the problem of Hfe for himself. It is this in¬ 
dividual responsibility that makes life worth 
the living. Do not hope to live a life of use¬ 
fulness and happiness by merely existing, but 
by serving others. It is not years that meas¬ 
ure the value of a life, but inspiration and mo¬ 
tive. No one should care for life merely to 
live, but for the opportunity that life offers. 
With Bailey feel: 

“ We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not bieathsi; 

In feeling, not in figures on a dial. 

We should count time by heart throbs. He most lives 
Who thinks most—feels the noblest—acts the best.” 

Do good now. Moral purpose is measured by 
action, rather than by mere belief. Never rate a 
man by his professions, but by his actions. A 
profession of moral purpose not emphasized by 
action is mere cant—the currency of hypocrites. 
Action—action only—can fill words with mean¬ 
ing. Doing is the most persuasive evidence of 



THE IDEAL LIFE . 


221 


moral purpose. Feel reality in duty done; you 
cannot feel it in duty merely professed. If you 
cannot accomplish a great work, content yourself 
by doing whatever you can. In the main, life is 
made up of little things. Greatness is purpose 
rather than accomplishment. 

A strong man sees possible results ; a feeble 
man sees only what is. What you need is the 
courage to be yourselves—to be true, honest, and 
brave. To think, to act, is to live. Make your 
spiritual natures pay dividends. Automatic obe¬ 
dience to authority can never inspire the soul 
with the full meaning of life. The merely me¬ 
chanical can never inspire. “He who would in¬ 
spire and lead his race must be defended from 
traveling with the souls of other men, from liv¬ 
ing, breathing, reading, and writing in the daily 
time-worn yoke of their opinions,’’said Emerson. 
The man who discerns a new truth, destroys a 
falsehood, or disturbs a prejudice, is a benefactor 
of the race. 

The struggle for the ideal is the struggle of 




222 


THE IDEAL LIFE. 


all time. Life is a progression—an infinite series 
of successes and defeats. Nothing is settled 
save the man who refuses to think. No array 
of facts can inspire us, but what we are. The 
truly beautiful in man is not his possessions but 
his purpose. Greatness depends upon reality; 
it is what we feel but cannot express. No man 
is great who is not morally honest. The time¬ 
server in education, politics, or religion, however 
much cultured and praised, is neither great nor 
useful. The quality of a man’s character depends 
upon the practical principles that govern his 
daily life. We inherit nature, but we acquire 
character. 

We are never greater nor better than our aims. 
A noble aim means more than self—it means un¬ 
selfish service to humanity ; it means more than 
merely feeding the hungry; it means an effort to 
make hunger impossible ; it means more than 
educating the ignorant; it means an effort to 
make ignorance impossible; it means more than 
gifts and prayers; it means purpose and labor. 




THE IDEAL LIFE. 


223 


Man must lose himself in unselfish service for 
others before he can feel the significance of his 
opportunity. 

Our mission is- to labor and to wait. The fu¬ 
ture is full of hope. I believe that education 
will yet show that all life is related—that the 
beggar in the cabin is akin to the man in the 
palace. The problem of man’s existence is be^ 
ing solved. Man must advance ; he could not go 
backward if he would. The continued growth 
of civilization is assured by the progress of the 
past. Five hundred years ago the average man 
everywhere lived in utter darkness and degrada¬ 
tion. The average man today, in Europe and 
America, has comforts, luxuries, and opportuni¬ 
ties once beyond the reach of kings and queens. 

The way to happiness, usefulness, and greatness 
has been beautifully described by Christ himself. 
The essence of the Christian religion is love— 
unselfish love. ‘ ‘ Thou shalt love the Lord 
thy God with all thy heart, and with all 

THY SOUL, AND WITH ALL THY MIND. AND 



224 


THE IDEAL LIFE. 


THOU SHALT LOVE THY NEIGHBOR AS THYSELF. ” 
This is Christ’s creed, you need no other. No 
abstractions, no supernatural conditions, no rit¬ 
ualism, no pomp, no display; but love to God 
and love to man. Christ is the ideal—the moral 
and intellectual genius of the creative power. 
The whole world confesses the completeness of 
his character. He spoke the final word to man, 
and man heard his appeal. In the ‘ ‘ Sermon on 
the Mount” we find the inspiration which lifts 
humanity out of the shadow of selfishness into 
the light of helpfulness. 





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